The inaugural UFC event on FX is set to take place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., this Friday, and it will feature a main event between two of the most exciting lightweight fighters in Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller.
Both are coming off losses to top competition and will look to get back on the winning track. Guillard was submitted by Joe Lauzon at UFC 136 while Miller lost a unanimous decision to Benson Henderson at UFC on Fox 1. Both fighters had extended win streaks prior to the losses.
Other main-card bouts include Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer, Mike Easton vs. Jared Papazian and Pat Barry vs. Josh Morecraft.
These are predictions for Fight, Knockout and Submission of the Night.
Fight of the Night: Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer
With over 70 bouts combined between them, Duane “Bang” Ludwig (21-11) and Josh “The Dentist” Neer (32-10-1) are the two most experienced fighters on the card.
Both are veterans of the UFC and have been in and out of the organization. Ludwig made his UFC debut at UFC 42 while Neer did at the first UFC Fight Night event in 2005.
Neer is coming off an impressive win over Keith Wisniewski, who he stopped in the second round after using elbows and strikes against the cage to damage his opponent.
Ludwig has back-to-back wins over Amir Sadollah and Nick Osipczak, both of which came by decision. He also owns the unofficial fastest UFC knockout at six seconds.
Given their styles and experience, this is one that should last long enough to give the fans a very solid back-and-forth fight.
Knockout of the Night: Pat Barry
Heavyweights Pat Barry (6-4) and Christian Morecraft (7-2) have a lot to prove going into their bout this weekend, and both are coming off losses.
Barry is 1-3 in his last four with losses to Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo and Mirko Cro Cop. Morecraft had a standout victory against Sean McCorkle in 2011 but also had suffered losses to Matt Mitrione and Struve.
Both of Morecraft’s losses are by KO, and Barry is a much better striker than Mitrione and Struve. Unless he can get this fight to the ground, he will be on the end of Barry’s strikes and kicks.
Barry has been criticized for being cautious in some of his bouts, but he has also made the mistake of leaving himself open and trying to get the finish in the bout with Kongo.
If the opening is there, Barry will take every advantage of it.
Submission of the Night: Jim Miller
Prior to Jim Miller’s loss to Benson Henderson, he had obtained a seven-fight win streak with some standout victories over Kamal Shalorus, Charles Oliveira and Duane Ludwig. His only losses are to the top three lightweights in the division in Henderson, Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar.
Eleven of his victories have come by submission.
Guillard enters the fight with a 30-9-2 record with eight of his losses having come by way of submission, almost all of which came in the first round.
It’s notable to mention that Guillard has left Greg Jackson’s camp so it will be interesting to see if that affects his performance at all. After seeing the way “The Young Assassin” was defeated in his bout with Lauzon, it’s safe to say he hasn’t learned much from his previous defeats where he went in too confident and ended up getting caught.
Don’t expect to see much of a change in this fight if it comes down to Miller looking for the sub.
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