UFC 134 – Dan Miller focused on keeping his job and away from the leg locks of Rousimar Palhares

UFC middleweight veteran, Dan Miller has been giving his thoughts on taking on dangerous Brazilian submission machine, Rousimar Palhares this weekend at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, explaining first and foremost this fight is important as far as keeping his job is concerned.
Speaking via UFC.com, Miller said:

“A win over him helps me keep my job. That’s foremost. In my eyes, he’s a great fighter and one of the most dangerous fighters I’ve ever faced. The guys I’ve fought were very, very good fighters, very well rounded, but he just brings another aspect with the leglocks. He’s very dangerous at finishing fights and it’s gonna be a tough fight and I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Facing really good fighters and testing myself keeps me very motivated. When I have to go in against somebody who people say is better than me, that motivates me. I want to go in there and prove that I’m the better fighter and that motivates me and keeps me going and keeps me training hard.”

“You definitely have to stay on top of your game with him,” said Miller. “He’s very sneaky with his leg locks and he can come out of nowhere. You can never really relax with him. He can dive in on a leg and once he gets a hold of it, it’s really tough to get out of them.”

“It’s more fighter against fighter and not so much black belt against black belt. He (Palhares) is a great fighter, he’s got really good takedowns, and he’s fantastic on the mat. But I’m going in there to beat him and I want to finish him. I’m going in to test myself against him, so it gets me amped up to fight somebody like that. I’m going in there to try and finish him, so whether I do that standing or on the mat, it doesn’t really matter.”

The AMA Fight Club fighter picked up much needed wins over John Salter and Joe Doerksen last year only to return to the losing column at UFC 128 when he was defeated by Nate Marquardt via decision.