Juliana Miller isn’t just stepping back into the cage at UFC Des Moines — she’s rising from the ashes of a year that nearly broke her. After winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 30, her career seemed poised to take off. But instead of racking up wins, Miller faced a storm of setbacks. Although she made a successful debut against Brogan Walker, two losses followed. A unanimous decision loss to Veronica Hardy and a TKO loss to Luana Santos in her last outing inside the Octagon.

In 2024 alone, she endured three surgeries, 2 major and one minor, that forced her to sit on the sidelines while doubt and criticism piled up. The hardest blow, though, came outside the Octagon — the death of her grandmother, the woman who raised her, supported her, and never missed a fight.

In an interview with MMA Mania’s Alexander Behunin as she gears up to take on Ivana Petrovic, Juliana Miller opened up about the grief, the struggle, and the fire that now fuels her return. Miller revealed, “At the end of the year, my beautiful grandma went to heaven, and she raised me my whole life I’m really grateful she passed peacefully in her sleep. She was in a lot of pain. She was very religious, so I’m glad she got to go be with God and be an angel.”

Reflecting on her loss to Santos, Miller confessed that the defeat weighed heavily on her, not just because of what happened inside the cage, but what happened outside of it. She stated, “The last time she saw me in MMA competition, she saw me getting hurt, she saw me losing…”

The losses hurt, but the online vitriol cut deeper. The Juliana Miller fans met after her TUF 30 win was all fire and flair — a scrappy striker with a chip on her shoulder and energy to spare. But that momentum met a wall. And when the hate came from the fans? It burrowed into her.

Miller stated, “I wanted these people to like me, but I’ve finally reached a point where I’m not here to prove myself to a troll at home hating on me. I really don’t care.”

Now, she’s done chasing applause. She’s hunting for something deeper, something that she can only find once the Octagon doors lock behind her in Des Moines. According to ‘Killer’, “The emotion and pain that I’m bringing into this fight are going to be incomprehensible for her…So, you know, you can expect a war out of me. I’m not here to point-fight. I’m not afraid of a bloody mess.”

With fists sharpened by heartbreak and a fire lit by memory, Juliana Miller’s stepping back into the cage not just to win, but to prove that pain, when wielded right, can be a weapon all its own. But across from her at UFC on ESPN 67 stands another woman shaped by adversity who isn’t backing down either!

Juliana Miller fight crucial for Ivana Petrovic to prove a point

Ivana Petrovic doesn’t just fight opponents — she fights an entire system. Imagine chasing UFC dreams in a country that doesn’t even recognize your sport. That’s been Petrovic’s reality for over a decade. Living in Norway, where professional MMA is still illegal, she’s had to train in the shadows while lobbying politicians to legalize the sport.

In an interview with UFC.com, she revealed, “And the problem is that people who are in politics don’t understand MMA rules, and they think it’s too brutal. Even I think boxing is more brutal because you can be knocked down and then you come up again and again and again.”

So, how far would you go for a dream no one around you believes in? For Petrovic, the answer is simple: anywhere. She and her husband-coach Sasa, have made it work. From training in Norwegian gyms to fighting across borders, the couple mapped a nomadic blueprint for survival in the sport. Petrovic stated, “But yeah, it’s not legal to fight here, so we were traveling outside of the country to do that.”

Six fights on the regional circuit. One contract with the UFC. And three performances that built a reputation, even in defeat. She submitted Liang Na. Went the distance with Luana Carolina and Jamey-Lyn Horth but came up short. But she believes the best is yet to come.

She confessed, “To be honest, I could fight anybody now, because now this is my last fight on the contract and it is time to show myself, it’s time to show that I belong there and no matter who they give me.”

To wrap things up, when these two women clash at UFC Des Moines, it’ll be grief versus grit. It’ll be pain forged into purpose, clashing with pressure hardened into resolve. Both women know struggle. Both have fought battles long before this matchup was ever booked. The only question is, who will walk out of the Octagon with their hands raised? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!