Ad
Dream come true: Miller awarded UFC contract after defeating Drago
Published
Modified
Albuquerque’s Ty Miller realized a long-cherished dream Tuesday night, earning a UFC contract with an impressive victory over New York’s Jimmy Drago on Dana White’s Contender Series at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Miller, 4 inches taller than his rugged opponent, used his superior length, reach and boxing skills to get a unanimous verdict (30-27) from the judges.
He also got the verdict he wanted from White, the UFC’s president, who after Tuesday’s event gave the Sandia High School graduate what he’d come for.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment,” Miller (6-0) said after learning he’d been given the contract. “I’ve been dreaming (about) it since I was 8 years old. It’s a surreal moment.”
Of the fight itself, he said, the game plan he’d formulated with his team at Albuquerque’s FIT-NHB gym worked to near-perfection — other than the powerful leg kicks from Drago (7-3) that had Miller on crutches afterward.
“I knew if I kept my distance, used my volume, picked him apart from the outside, I would win,” he said.
Miller credited his father, as well as his team at FIT-NHB, for what he accomplished on Tuesday.
“My dad showed me a lot of the fundamentals,” he said, “and then he pointed me towards FIT-NHB. … They transformed me, man. They made me who I am today.”
Miller enters the UFC ranks at welterweight (170 pounds), joining his FIT-NHB teammate Tim Means.
