On the heels of a pivotal victory over Melvin Guillard, Jim Miller has already signed on to fight Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 3.
UFC president Dana White broke the news via Twitter, saying that the fight would take place on May 5 at New Jersey’s IZOD Center.
Coming off of a loss to Benson Henderson in his previous appearance, Miller faced a must-win situation against Guillard if he wanted to remain a serious lightweight contender. Early in the fight, Miller was in trouble after getting rocked by Guillard, but an ill-advised flying knee by “The Young Assassin” allowed Miller to take the fight into his domain.
Once Guillard’s back was on the canvas, the fight belonged to Miller. The jiu-jitsu black belt quickly took his opponent’s back, and handed Guillard his ninth submission defeat in 10 career losses.
The win propelled Miller back into consideration for a title fight against the winner of the upcoming bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Henderson. In order to earn that shot, it appears Miller will now have to get past one of the always game Diaz brothers.
A winner of back-to-back impressive fights against Takanori Gomi and Donald Cerrone, Diaz is also being discussed as a potential candidate to become the next top 155-pound contender.
It is unclear where the bout will fit in on the event’s final fight card, but it seems certain that this lightweight matchup between two of the division’s top contenders will be shown on the FOX televised main card.
The only other bout that has been confirmed for the event is a flyweight title between TUF champ John Dodson and Darren Uyenoyama, who recently defeated Norifumi Yamamoto in his UFC debut.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
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