(Jim Miller viciously gnaws on Mac Danzig’s nipple at UFC 100.)
Following his seventh-straight Octagon victory — a third-round TKO over Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128 — Jim Miller will continue his arduous climb up the lightweight ladder at UFC on Versus 5 (August 14th, Milwaukee), where he’ll meet former WEC champ Ben Henderson. Henderson had his Octagon debut last month at UFC 129, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Mark Bocek, which helped wash away some of the shame from being one of MMA’s all-time greatest highlight-reel victims.
Fun fact: No fighter in the UFC has ever won eight fights in a row without earning a title shot. That would be an encouraging statistic for Miller, but the lightweight division is so clogged at the top right now — especially considering the delayed rematch between Edgar and Maynard, and Anthony Pettis being set up for a title shot if he beats Clay Guida in June — that Miller might have to keep winning for another full year before he gets the call.
Also on the card, Dan Hardy will attempt to break a three-fight losing streak when he goes toe-to-toe with Chris Lytle. Hardy most recently got out-wrestled to a unanimous decision by Anthony Johnson at UFC Fight Night 24, which followed previous losses to Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit. After the Johnson fight, Hardy called out Lytle as somebody who wouldn’t give him a “boring” fight, and the matchmaking gods must have been listening, because here we are. It’s definitely must-win time for the Outlaw. Lytle is coming back from his decision loss against Brian Ebersole at UFC 127, so he could use a ‘W’ himself.