Despite having fought only twice under the UFC banner, many already view 28-year-old Tommy McMillen as the next big thing in the promotion. Wielding an impressive unbeaten MMA record of 11-0, McMillen’s performances in the UFC have already earned him a Fight of the Night and a Performance of the Night award in his last two outings.
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Yet, for all those accomplishments, Tommy McMillen stays grounded. Unlike most fighters, for whom money plays a big role in pursuing a UFC career, financial pressure became less relevant for McMillen, given that he had already been making enough money to keep him afloat. Speaking with Ariel Helwani in a recent interview days after his spectacular knockout win over Alberto Montes at UFC Oklahoma City, the rising prospect made it clear that his success and money are unlikely to change what drives him.
“I’ve been making six figures in sales for a few years now,” McMillen said after Helwani pointed to the shiny watch and necklace he was wearing. “I’ve never. I’m. I’m not here to just…I like money, don’t get me wrong; that’s my biggest motivator. But I just truly like to fight people.
“I’ve been doing good for a minute, and that’s why I think, you know, it’s going to be easy to stay humble and stay grounded and keep moving forward in this career because I’m here to build a legacy at the end of the day.”
Much of the confidence McMillen expressed stems from his previous career in sales. While details are limited, according to his UFC profile, the undefeated featherweight fighter was reportedly involved in talent acquisition for the solar energy industry. More notably, he operated a MAFIA sales team from Phoenix, Arizona.
The income generated through that work provided McMillen ample resources, which eventually allowed him to pursue a full-time career as a mixed martial artist.
That’s a realistic scenario that aligns with McMillen’s subsequent explanation to Helwani. The fighter revealed that he stepped away from the venture four years ago. The work became relatively easy once his friends took over training the recruits. While he is totally focused on building his fighting career, McMillen recently regrouped with his friends and associates after they contacted him.
“And it’s actually doing good. So, so I’ve been doing it a little bit,” he added. “Again, I’m not too hands-on with it. My friends run everything, but like, I recruit people and work with them, and like, I’m in GroupMe chats with some of these guys, and they’re like my friends for a long time, so it’s pretty set.”
By removing that “desperation” from his life, a factor that confounds most fighters, if not all, McMillen looks well prepared to build a well-rounded career in the UFC, with a potential shot at title contention in the future.
More fireworks could be coming from Tom McMillen
Unlike McMillen, most fighters come with certain baggage, with fighting becoming the central piece of their professional and sometimes even personal lives. A setback can result in major life readjustment, sometimes even leading to desperation.
In sharp contrast, McMillen has taken care of one key aspect, money, that could have become a constant hassle as he tried to build a career in mixed martial arts. His performance so far points in that direction.
As a 2-time Montana State Wrestling Champion with Great Falls High School, McMillen had already assembled an impressive amateur record of 7-0, with two wins coming via knockouts, while four came through submissions.
The pattern continued when he switched to professional ranks in 2019. After an eight-fight winning streak, all of which ended in the first round, his first decision victory came last September, when he competed in Dana White’s Contender Series.
After securing the contract, his first fight under the UFC, against Manolo Zecchini, followed the same pattern when McMillen knocked him out in the opening round.
His recent bout against Alberto Montes a few days ago, at the UFC OKC headlined by Dricu Du Plessis vs. Kamaru Usman, was the first that went beyond the first round. Yet, in the thirteen minutes it took him to completely dismantle the Venezuelan native, McMillan set a new record, as confirmed by the UFC’s research team, for a fight scheduled for three rounds by landing 252 significant strikes.
Mentored by former champion ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley, with whom he once lived, Tommy McMillen, who currently trains out of Arizona, deserves to be watched closely by UFC observers. Given that he does not have the burden of financial pressure and desperation that become an impediment for many fighters, fans can expect the consistency that should take him to another level within the division and, hopefully, a shot at the title as well.
