When announced plans to fight again, the reaction was mixed.
While there is no doubt that Cerrone was one of the most popular and beloved fighters in the prime of his career, it felt like that time was far behind him after going 0-6 in his last seven fights with a single battle remained undefeated. After his retirement, Cerrone also openly admitted to taking steroids and said so at one point Thanks to the substances he was finally allowed to take after he no longer had to adhere to the UFC's anti-doping policy.
who was Cerrone's last opponent before announcing his comeback, wouldn't admonish anyone if he decides to fight again, but he admits he doesn't like the circumstances of this particular situation.
“I have a hard time telling other grown men what to do,” Miller told MMA Fighting. “I don't really believe in it. But the fact that he's been very, very open about the use of performance enhancers and how most of his recent fights have gone. He's been knocked unconscious a few times and that doesn't heal if you have to move on a bit [testosterone replacement therapy] or whatever. To be completely honest, I’m not that keen on it.”
During these final seven fights of his career, Cerrone suffered four knockouts and one submission loss before retiring. He is now planning a return to active duty as his 42nd birthday approaches in March, and when he fights in 2025 he will be three years removed from his final appearance in the UFC.
Leisure time is a factor. The damage caused by a long career in martial arts is different. But the only part of Cerrone's comeback plan that Miller just doesn't like is using banned substances post-retirement.
While Cerrone must undergo six months of testing before being allowed to fight, Miller is simply not a fan of gaming the system and using banned substances for three years before being cleared to compete again.
“It’s not my decision,” Miller said. “It's up to him and his team and if they want him to get hit on the head again, do your thing. I'm not a big fan of the whole steroid vacation thing. What do we do? But he’ll do what he wants to do.”
Since Miller believes he can't tell Cerrone or anyone else what to do with his life, he prefers to focus on himself and his plans for the future.
After a win Miller announced that he wanted to make it to a total of 50 fights in the UFC – a total of five more appearances – before hanging up his gloves for good. While Miller has touted retirement in the past, he never actually expressed those intentions until recently, but unlike Cerrone, he is absolutely firm in his decision.
“I want to be in a situation where when I’m done, I’m done,” Miller said. “There's no, 'Well, I didn't train hard in fight camp for six months, a year, and now I'm better,' because I'm just training and not just wearing myself down to dust and then jumping back in.”
Miller knows firsthand how hard it is to give up fighting, especially after witnessing his brother's trials and tribulations suffered from this towards the end of his career.
There was a time when the Miller brothers were both considered future title contenders in the UFC, but only Jim was able to move forward while breaking the records for most fights and wins in the promotion's history.
Meanwhile, Dan fought for the last time in 2015, with his career largely cut short due to injuries sustained while training and fighting for a decade.
“Close to home, my brother had neck surgery in 2013 and they went in. He had two broken joints. “They couldn't tell him if they were going to fuse both joints or just one when they went in there,” Miller explained. “In the end they just merged one. The doctor said that if they merged the two, he would no longer allow him to fight. But he still had a bad joint in his neck, just didn't take enough time, and ended up re-injuring himself a few weeks before a comeback fight. He's not nearly 100 percent into it. It sucked to be a part of it. It sucked to see my brother, who I believe could have been the champion at 185 to this day, fight and train in the gym, making his performances skyrocket. He was always his own worst enemy when he entered the octagon.
“Seeing him go in there, still hurt from the neck surgery and all that stuff, and not performing and not having the moment that he wanted. To not make the comeback he wanted. It's hard and it sucks. I don't want to do this to myself. I don’t want to do that to my wife or my team.”
So Miller won't tell Cerrone what he should or shouldn't do with his career, but he promises the day he retires from the sport that he's truly done fighting.
He's already set a career timeline and Miller won't deviate from that once he makes his decision.
“When I make the decision that it’s done for me, it’s done,” Miller said. “I never want to be in this place. I hope I can do everything and feel great when I'm done fighting. It would be great to get out of bed, go to the toilet normally and not limp! But I'm not going to do that one day and be like I have to fight again.
“It's a difficult situation [for Cerrone]. I don't like making decisions for other grown men. They can do their own thing. Whatever he decides to do, do it, and do it to the fullest.”