Daniel James Miller (born June 30, 1981) is an American former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. A professional from 2005 until 2014, he is perhaps best known for competing in the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

, but was also the final International Fight League Middleweight Champion, representing the New York Pitbulls. He is the older brother of current UFC Lightweight Jim Miller.

Background

Born and raised in Sparta Township, New Jersey, along with two brothers, Miller began wrestling from a young age and continued competing at Sparta High School. Miller then began his

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

career in 2005, when he began training at Planet Jiu-Jitsu. On January 15, 2010, Miller received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Jamie Cruz.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Miller had his first professional fight November 19, 2005, against Tenyeh Dixon at Reality Fighting 10 and was victorious by

triangle choke A triangle choke, or sankaku-jime (三角絞) in judo, is a type of figure-four chokehold that encircles the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle. Applying pressure using both legs and ...

in the first round. Miller followed the Dixon fight with a victory over Jay Coleman at Reality Fighting 11 by

Armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...

, setting up a #1 contender match against Mike Massenzio. As the main event at Reality Fighting 12, Massenzio and Miller fought to a close decision, with Miller's submission attempts earning the victory on one judge's card and Massenzio's strong takedowns earning the victory on two cards, and the fight. Miller's next fight came at the Cage Fury Fighting Championships where he took on Dave Perez. Miller landed a strong upkick from his back early before controlling the rest of the fight. Perez failed to answer the bell for round 2, and Miller's victory earned him a title shot at CFFC II. Miller fought Lance Everson at CFFC II for the Cage Fury Fighting Championships Middleweight Title. The fight was highlighted by a powerful slam by Miller which led to a

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

which earned Miller the first round victory and the title. Following CFFC II, Planet Jiu Jitsu closed down. Miller began training at American Martial Arts in

Whippany, New Jersey Whippany ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hanover Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 8,863. Whippany's name is derived from the Whippanong ...

, with his brother Jim in January, 2007. Miller defended his title April 13, 2007, against Rhino Fight Team's Jose Rodriguez in his first fight with AMA Fight Club. Miller's brother Jim also fought on the card; the first time the brothers had fought together since Reality Fighting 12 and both were victorious. Using his strong wrestling and Jiu Jitsu skills, Miller took Rodriguez to the ground on multiple occasions, and dealt damage from on top. Though Miller attained the mount twice, and had an attempted Armbar in the third round, Rodriguez proved to be tough and the fight went to the judges where Miller was granted the unanimous 30–27 victory. Miller made his IFL debut when he fought for

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and 7th degree coral belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and coach. A third generation member of the Gracie family, he is the grandson of Gracie jiu-jitsu co-founder C ...

's New York Pitbulls in the 2007 IFL Semifinals in

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

, filling in for the injured Fabio Leopaldo. Miller fought the Tokyo Sabres' Dave Phillips in the first fight between the teams. After a quick slam by Miller, Phillips established guard and attempted an armbar. Miller slammed out, and in the scramble secured Phillips' neck in a standing guillotine choke. IFL Commentator

Bas Rutten Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. As a kickboxer, he fought 16 times, winning the first 14 matches by knockout, 13 in the first round ...

called the choke, which rendered Phillips unconscious, "the tightest guillotine e'dever seen," and Miller earned the Submission-of-the-Night award for it. Miller defeated Ryan McGivern by kneebar to become the last IFL Middleweight Championship.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On July 23, 2008, it was announced that the UFC had signed both Miller and his brother Jim each to four fight contracts. Miller was successful in his UFC debut against Rob Kimmons at UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Neer, winning via rear-naked choke submission. Miller returned to the Octagon and defeated

Matt Horwich Matthew Peter Horwich (born October 2, 1978) was an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Horwich has fought in BAMMA, Strikeforce, Bellator, the UFC, and for ...

via unanimous decision at

UFC 90 ''UFC 90: Silva vs. Côté'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 25, 2008, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. Background The main event featured UFC Middleweigh ...

on October 25, 2008. He moved his UFC record to 3–0 with a first round submission victory over Jake Rosholt at UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens on February 7, 2009. Originally, Miller was scheduled to fight again at ''

UFC 98 ''UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 23, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background A title unification match between the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and ...

'' against

Yushin Okami is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, Okami has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase, M-1 Global, World Series of Fighting, DEEP, Professional Fighters League, and ONE Championship. He is regarded as one o ...

, but Okami sustained an injury and was replaced by

Chael Sonnen Chael Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

. He lost via unanimous decision as Sonnen took him down at will and ground and pounded for three rounds en route to a victory. Miller was scheduled to fight CB Dollaway on September 16, 2009, at UFC Fight Night 19, but got an infection and had to withdraw. Miller lost a unanimous decision to

Demian Maia Demian Augusto Maia Baptista (born 6 November 1977) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, submission grappler and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt. Maia competed in both the Welterweight and Middleweight divisio ...

on February 6, 2010, at

UFC 109 ''UFC 109: Relentless'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 6, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background A previously rumoured bout between Renzo Gracie and M ...

. Miller next lost his third consecutive UFC fight to

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English former mixed martial artist, sports commentator, analyst, and actor. He competed in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ( ...

via unanimous decision on May 29, 2010, at UFC 114. Miller faced John Salter on August 28, 2010, at

UFC 118 ''UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 28, 2010 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The third UFC Fan Expo coincided with the event. This event was t ...

, replacing an injured

Phil Baroni Philip George Baroni (April 16, 1976) is an American former mixed martial artist, kickboxer, boxer, and professional wrestler. Baroni competed in the UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, DREAM, EliteXC, Bellator MMA, Titan FC, Palace Fi ...

. Miller earned a much needed win via submission due to a Ninja Choke (a front Rear Naked Choke) at 1:53 of the second round. It was Miller's first victory since February 2009. Miller next defeated Joe Doerksen on December 11, 2010, at UFC 124 via split decision. Miller faced Nate Marquardt on March 19, 2011, at

UFC 128 ''UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Background This event was expected to take place in Abu Dhab ...

, replacing Yoshihiro Akiyama on one week's notice. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Miller faced

Rousimar Palhares Rousimar Palhares (;, born February 20, 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Series of Fighting (WSOF), Fight Nights Global (FN ...

on August 27, 2011, at

UFC 134 ''UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami'' (also known as ''UFC Rio'') was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena (Rio de Janeiro), HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ...

, replacing an injured Alexandre Ferreira. In the first round, Dan was dropped by strikes, Palhares followed up with ground and pound; using effective blocking and intelligent defense, Miller was able to protect himself from the strikes but Palhares stopped his ground and pound to begin celebrating and climbed on top of the cage ring. Ref Herb Dean pulled Palhares back into the ring and advised that he did not stop the fight. Before continuing, both fighters reset and met in the middle of the ring; Dan Miller immediately dropped Palhares with a hard punch. Palhares even went limp as he fell to the canvas, but quickly regained composure. Palhares ended up defeating Miller by unanimous decision. Miller faced Ricardo Funch in a

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

bout on June 22, 2012, at

UFC on FX 4 The year 2012 was the 20th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2012 started with UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes and ended with UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 ...

. Miller was successful his welterweight debut, submitting Funch with a guillotine choke late in round 3, earning ''Submission of the Night'' honors. Miller was expected to face Sean Pierson on September 22, 2012, at UFC 152. However, Miller pulled out of the bout after getting news about his son's kidney transplant operation and was replaced by Lance Benoist. Miller returned to the UFC octagon on March 16, 2013, at UFC 158, where he faced Jordan Mein on the card. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round, the first stoppage loss of his career. Miller was expected to return to middleweight and face Daniel Sarafian on December 20, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 58. However, Miller pulled out of the bout on December 11 and was replaced by promotional newcomer Antonio dos Santos Jr. After over two years away from the sport, Miller returned to face Trevor Smith on July 12, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale. He lost the fight via unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Personal life

Miller is married. The couple lost their first child, a daughter in March 2009. Their second child has struggled with health problems. Prior to their careers in mixed martial arts, Dan and his younger brother Jim worked in construction with their father.

Championships and accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

** Submission of the Night (One time) vs. Ricardo Funch **UFC.com Awards ***2008: Ranked #7 Newcomer of the Year * Cage Fury Fighting Championships **CFFC Middleweight Championship (One time) **One successful title defense *

International Fight League The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.

** IFL Middleweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

Official SiteUFC profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Dan American male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1981 births Living people Mixed martial artists from New Jersey American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Sparta, New Jersey People from Hanover Township, New Jersey Sparta High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Personal life

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links