Jim Miller Nickname: NSFW Request for Bruce Buffer and Story Behind UFC Star’s Moniker

Jim Miller is a force of nature. Over forty, already holding the record for the most UFC fights and wins, ‘A-10’ shows no sign of stopping. An interesting way to explain just how long he has been fighting in the promotion is that he fought at UFC 100, 200, and 300! Not only is he not stopping, but he’s going strong and still a killer.

This is why the UFC have matched him up against surging young and hungry former two-promotion champion, Chase Hooper, at UFC 314 on April 12. What better way to find out if the 25-year-old has what it takes to make it to the top level than fight the wily veteran, Jim Miller? Ahead of this mouth-watering clash, we take a look at the significance of the living legend’s nickname. 

What does Jim Miller’s nickname ‘A10’ mean? 

In 2017, ahead of his UFC 213 fight against Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller spoke to Ariel Helwani in an interview that touched upon the origins of the ‘A-10’ nickname. In the video shared by the MMA Fighting account on YouTube, Helwani began the interview by inquiring if UFC 213 would be the first time Miller would be introduced with a nickname, to which Miller responded in the affirmative.

Helwani further questioned the fighter by asking, “What is the nickname? Where did this come from?” Miller responded by revealing that, ‘A-10’, you know, and I’ve joked about like coming out as ‘The Warthog’ here and there, but it was always kind of because of the A-10 Warthog.”

The A-10 Warthog is the nickname of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, a close air support attack plane in service with the USAF (United States Air Force) since 1976. The UFC fighter further explained the reasoning behind choosing the moniker of the plane as his own by revealing, “It’s kind of my style, you know, it’s not the prettiest plane in the air but it gets the job done.

He also confessed that he came up with the name on his own, as Miller felt his real name is, ”a little bit vanilla” for branding and marketing a UFC fighter. Therefore, just as the A-10 Warthog is renowned for its reliability and ability to get the job done, Miller also prides himself on his tenacity and resilience inside the Octagon.

And it is that tenacity and resilience that saw him feature on the UFC’s third century card– UFC 300. Alas, the veteran wasn’t able to get his way about his fighter introduction for the card, which would have made that fight and the whole card even more memorable.

Jim Miller proposed new NSFW nickname to Bruce Buffer

Jim Miller had one special request from UFC announcer Bruce Buffer ahead of his UFC 300 clash against fellow UFC veteran, King Green (then known as Bobby Green) on the opening bout to the anniversary mega-card in April 2024. To make his entrance truly special and electrifying, ‘A-10’ wanted Buffer to use a curse word while introducing him.

“I don’t know if Bruce [Buffer] will introduce me as Jim ‘F—ing’ Miller. I don’t know if he swears when he’s working. He definitely swears when he’s not. I think it would be cool. I think it would be cool to maybe open the pay-per-view with that. I think doing that in front of the T-Mobile full of fans would be awesome. I think that would get me super fired up,” Miller said in an interview prior to UFC 300.

Not only did he make the request, but felt that he had earned the right to be called by that NSFW nickname. He said, “I earned that nickname. I earned that nickname by the way I do business inside the octagon and even outside.”

“I earned that nickname from a guy that was matchmaking at UFC 2. When Joe Silva calls you that, it’s pretty cool. I’m glad that the fans are behind it. It’s not the easiest nickname to promote, but it’s there,” he added. But Bruce Buffer was unmoved. “I don’t like cursing at my job. The answer is no,” the announcer said of A-10’s request. 

So what now for Miller? Surely he has done everything he set out to do in the sport, and at 41 years old, it must not be easy to keep training at the highest level. Surely he must be thinking about retiring? If you think that, you don’t know Jim Miller. There is one more thing (or rather two things) he still wants to do.

“That thing, that unicorn—besides the kimura—is that perfect fight. I’ve gone out and armbarred a third-degree black belt in the first round, from my guard, which you would think was a perfect outing, but in my mind, it wasn’t. I’ve gone out and had the Fight of the Year on a five-week training camp, but that wasn’t perfect either. It’s kind of like writing a book, writing the story, where there has to be a little adversity, but not too much, and I’m still trying to find that one. I don’t think that I ever will,” Miller told UFC.com ahead of his UFC 314 clash against Chase Hooper. 

Do you think Bruce Buffer should have entertained Jim Miller’s request about his nickname at UFC 300? Let us know in the comments down below.