Jim Miller's next fight? Don't expect any call-outs or (expletive) talking ...

so don’t go bitching at me cause thats what I remember please.

Yeah, and that is why I say he won second round. But taking somebody down and then getting viciously kimura’d does not score points.

The first round was certainly Miller’s 10-9. He landed the more significant strikes on the feet, thought it was close there, and while Bocek took him down twice, the first he was taken down in a half-pull situation as Miller had a guillotine and then immediately got up, and with the second once on the ground Miller worked a gogoplata, then swept and nearly finished with a kimura and split Bocek with strikes from on top.

The second frame goes to Bocek 10-9. Miller tries to roll for a leg lock and briefly has it deep but Bocek remains calm and escapes into the mount, which leads to the back take with the arm trapped. Bocek works for 1:45 in this position, but nearly all the strikes hit the hand, and he is never close to a submission. Coupled with the first half of the round being even, and Miller’s leg lock, it’s certainly not a 10-8, so the fight is even going into the third.

Round three, Miller gets the better of punching and also scores with a handful of hard leg kicks. They clinch against the cage and trade missed TD attempts, with both landing strikes though Miller landing the more significant ones again. Bocek scores a brief takedown but they pop up before any damage, Miller tries one of his own, Bocek lands some knees, but no points should be given as Jim was downed at the time, though the ref misses it. Another takedown from Bocek that Miller immediately stands from and follows with a single of his own, and then takes Bocek’s back before the round ends. 10-9 Miller. 29-28 Miller.

I think there are two things that skew a lot of people’s views of the fight. 1) The time on the back by Bocek sticks out so much that it is easy to forget he didn’t exactly brutalize with it, and it only happened in one round, meaning it couldn’t win a decision on its own, it could only give him one of the two rounds you need to win. 2) Advantageous positions are advantageous because they allow you to do more damage than your opponent. If you have the better position, such as being on top after a TD, but your opponent does more from bottom, you are still losing. With the exception of the one that led to the back, Bocek’s takedowns led to one of two things — an immediate escape, or defending Miller’s attacks from below. So, the one he did things with won him a round. His inability to do anything with the others lost him the other two.

The two rounds Miller won were actually very similar to the Tibau fight, with perhaps slightly closer striking and with more clear advantage for Jim after the TDs, which is why it is odd to me to see all of the “thank God the judges got it right” this time, after “it’s a robbery” with Bocek, and I think that back take is a big reason why.