5 UFC fighters who hung up their gloves before reaching their prime

#4. Phillip Miller – former UFC middleweight contender

Phillip Miller's retirement from MMA took everyone by surprise

Very few modern-day UFC fans will have heard of Phillip Miller. Regardless, the former middleweight contender is the very definition of a fighter who walked away from MMA before he came close to maximizing his potential.

He was a tough and well-rounded fighter with excellent grappling and striking skills which, of course, was still a rarity in the era that he fought. Miller made his way into the octagon in the summer of 2002 after putting together an impressive 13-0 record on the regional circuit.

Interestingly, Miller’s second career win came over Jake Shields, who, of course, went on to hold the welterweight and middleweight titles in StrikeForce and fought Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight crown in 2011.

Making good on his octagon debut, Miller outpointed the tough James Zikic in a light heavyweight bout. He then dropped back to 185lbs for his second trip to the big show, where he impressed in a rear-naked choke win over Mark Weir.

The fact that his win over Weir came on the promotion’s biggest show to that point – UFC 40, which was headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock – showed that Dana White and company had plenty of faith in the young star.

However, after defeating Moacir Oliveira in his return to the regional circuit in 2003, Miller abruptly hung up his gloves. Quite why he made this decision remains a mystery to this day. The only thing that’s known about what became of him is that he went on to become a police officer.

Quite how far Miller could’ve gone in the octagon is a fair question. Given the middleweight division wasn’t in the best shape at the time, it isn’t a stretch to say that he could’ve competed with the likes of Evan Tanner and Phil Baroni at the top of the weight class.

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#3. David Terrell – former UFC middleweight contender

Were it not for injuries, David Terrell could've become an all-time great

One fighter who definitely didn’t come close to maximizing his potential before he walked away from MMA was David Terrell, who famously fought unsuccessfully for the UFC middleweight title in 2005.

Few fighters made the impact that ‘The Soul Assassin’ did in his octagon debut. Widely renowned as one of the best grapplers on the planet, Terrell burst into the upper echelon of the 185lbs division by knocking out Matt Lindland, who was, at the time, considered the best fighter in the weight class.

The knockout took just 24 seconds, and made an instant star of Terrell, who had already put together a 4-1 record on the regional circuit. Suddenly, ‘The Soul Assassin’ was thrust into a shot at the vacant middleweight title against the more experienced Evan Tanner.

Although he came close to finishing Tanner with a guillotine choke, Terrell then succumbed to a TKO late in the first round. However, that shouldn’t have been the end of his story. Terrell was just 27-years-old at the time, and should’ve been able to bounce back from the loss to contend for the title again.

However, injuries began to mount up for him, forcing him out of multiple fights in the octagon. After winning just one more fight, he quietly hung up his gloves a few years later.

Quite what he could’ve achieved had he stayed healthy and not retired remains anyone’s guess. It’s definitely fair to say that he had the potential to be a champion. He remains one of the sport’s saddest stories, a classic example of missed potential.