Trent Miller earns UFC deal with rare DWCS shoulder choke

Trent Miller made history at Dana White's Contender Series Week 2, securing only the second Von Flue choke submission ever recorded on the platform and his first career finish via that technique. The middleweight (10-3) entered his matchup against Douglas Henrique Rodrigues as a massive +280 underdog but controlled the action on the ground in the opening round before expertly transitioning to the rare shoulder choke in the second, putting Rodrigues to sleep and earning a UFC contract.

Miller credited a strategic approach honed during his first DWCS appearance. "I knew in the first round, once I got on top of him, I controlled. So that was the plan: second round, get back on top, I felt the choke was there and I went for it. I've never actually got it in a fight," he said, noting that his opponent hit hard and busted his lip open. The 30-year-old's redemption comes after suffering a stoppage loss to Ryan Gandra in his inaugural Contender Series bid last year—a defeat he described as the worst performance of his career. "Last year's Contender Series, I had my worst performance of my life, essentially," Miller reflected. "I had so many doubters, so many haters come at me. For me to be able to shut them up like that, it's amazing."