Jim Miller fought Charles Oliveira at two very different points in his UFC career. The first was when the Brazilian was still new to the UFC. The second was when he discovered his form and became elite.

Jim Miller finished Charles Oliveira with a kneebar in the first round at UFC 124. Fast forward eight years and the Brazilian would finish the New Jersey native by rear-naked-choke submission in the first round.

“It’s awesome. It’s absolutely awesome to see,” Miller said recently on The MMA Hour. “He had those ups and down early, and then it’s just like, man, he hit that second stride, which is really not easy to do in this game. And to be able to get that head of steam going again and to have the performances that he’s had, it’s special. It really is special. And I’m super, super excited for him, super proud to have shared the octagon with him twice, and see where he’s at now. From where he’s come to what he’s done, it’s awesome.”

The two UFC fights were extremely different. Jim Miller found out firsthand that Charles Oliveira was not the same fighter.

“I went in and he was undefeated when we fought — and I steamrolled him,” Miller said. “And then when we fought that [second] time, he steamrolled me. So it’s completely different sides of the spectrum. So yeah, I’d like to do it again, and like I said, I’ve got a ton of respect for the guy. I’m a fan of his. It’d be awesome to share the octagon again with him.”

Charles Oliveira is set to defend his title at UFC 269 against Dustin Poirier. Jim Miller likes the progression the champion has made but he's picking the challenger.

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“I’m leaning a little bit more towards Dustin,” Miller said. “I just think he’s a bit more durable. Charles is dangerous everywhere, but he gets put in tough spots and I think that if Dustin gets him there, he’s going to just keep it on him and he’s so good at keeping the momentum, whereas Dustin is really hard to get into trouble. It takes a lot for guys to put him into trouble. So yeah, I’m just leaning a little bit more towards Dustin in this one.”

UFC 269 is going to be a fun event with some excellent fights. Jim Miller will make sure that he is watching.