Along with an abundance of talent, it takes blood, sweat, and sacrifice to make it to the big leagues in MMA.

Multiply that statement by one hundred percent or so, and now you know what it takes to get the title, the top of the mountain, and the pinnacle of MMA.

Like the majority of mountains in life, to truly appreciate reaching the pinnacle, you must be forced to pay your dues.

I have no time or patience for fighters being allowed to jump the due course based on a highlight knockout or two, hype, or personality. Nor do I believe in top fighters from other promotions being helicoptered in.

I believe in climbing the ladder, facing the next toughest, and knocking them off one by one to secure your place in the middle of the contenders, leaving no doubt whatsoever that you have earned your shot at the pinnacle.

UFC on Versus 5 takes place on August 14th from Milwaukee and will feature a monumental lightweight-contender fight between Jim Miller and Ben Henderson.

These two fighters have taken completely different paths to get to this point—one of them has done it exactly as stated above.

Here are five reasons Jim Miller is ready for a title shot:

5. Years of Experience, Record, and Current Streak

Miller has been a professional fighter for six years now, is 20-2 overall in his career, and 9-1 in the UFC, with his last loss coming in July of 2009.

Take a look at the last two fighters who have gotten lightweight title shots—Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard:

Edgar went into his first title shot against B.J.Penn with four and a half years, was 12-1 overall, and 6-1 in the UFC, and it had also been two years since his last loss.

Gray Maynard got his shot at Edgar's title with just under five years in the pros and was 10-0 (1) overall and 8-0 in the UFC.

Miller's resume is right on par

4. Other, Less Deserving Guys Have Already Had Shots



I'm speaking specifically of guys like Joe Stevenson, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez (who came down from welterweight), who all had less experience and worse records than Miller, yet jumped right over him to title shots, without having to actually fight him to get there.

The caliber of opponents on his record is equal and in line with all of these guys, yet Miller has to prove himself against Henderson, and even then he may not be next up for a shot.

3. Miller Is Better Than the Next 2 in Line: Clay Guida and Anthony Pettis

We all know that Edgar vs. Maynard III will be the next fight for the lightweight title, and there are absolutely no issues with that: Edgar is the champ and Maynard still has unsettled business with him.

What maddens me is that after Zuffa bought the WEC, it seemed a lock that WEC champion Anthony Pettis was going to be helicoptered in for a title fight. Edgar got hurt, and that forced Pettis to at least prove himself in one elimination fight in the bigs to get his shot.

He failed against UFC top ten Clay Guida.

Miller is a better fighter than both Pettis and Guida. These two should have gone through Miller to get to where they already are in the rankings.

2. Miller Has Gone the Distance with Both Edgar and Maynard

Miller lost a unanimous decision to Frankie Edgar back in 2006 in a title fight for the Reality Fighting promotion.

Both fighters were just beginning their careers in this sport, and while Edgar controlled much of that fight, Miller came close to submitting Edgar with a guillotine choke towards the end.

Edgar fought through it, and the match went to a decision.

Miller also took on current No. 1 contender Gray Maynard in 2009 at UFC 96 and lost a unanimous decision, in which he was dominated by Maynard's wrestling, but never hurt.

These fights took place early in Miller's career—his game has grown in leaps and bounds since.

The best in the division could not take him out.

1. It's Miller's Time

You constantly hear younger, less-experienced, less-established fighters state that it is simply "my time" to emerge and be the king of the division—Jon Jones and Rick Story were two such fighters that come to mind.

But what does this statement really mean?

I believe that experience, wins/losses, momentum, and paying one's dues truly does lead a fighter to a place in his career in which it's now or never in the chase for the gold.

Miller is 27 years old, and his short window is open right now.

A legit or even fluke loss to a new kid on the block like Henderson may stall his momentum, and he may never get a chance.

He has earned the opportunity, and his time is now.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Feature Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA (also a correspondent for MMACanada.net).

Catch him on Facebook or Twitter @wakafightermma .

