The first UFC event on FX promises to be an entertaining event, with a compelling main event between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard that could have ramifications on the lightweight division later on this year. Though before the main card starts, the un…
The first UFC event on FX promises to be an entertaining event, with a compelling main event between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard that could have ramifications on the lightweight division later on this year. Though before the main card starts, the undercard will be broadcast on Fuel TV, which has become the unofficial UFC network.
We know what to expect from undercard fights. It is very rare that anyone involved will become a star, but some fighters have emerged from the shadows in an event like this to make a name for themselves and be a staple of UFC for a long time.
So what should fans be watching out for when they tune in to see these preliminary bouts?
Jorge Rivera Will KO Eric Schafer In The First Round
Rivera was on a good roll in 2009 and 2010 with three straight wins, and he even got a shot against Michael Bisping at UFC 127. He lost that fight, albeit controversially, and inexplicably lost to Constantinos Philippou at UFC 133.
Schafer is a good opponent for Rivera to get back in the win column. He doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, and has lost his last three UFC fights.
Rivera has good knockout power, and is solid in all other facets of the game, so he will dictate the pace early and unleash a flurry of punches before the referee stops it.
Charlie Brenneman Will End Daniel Roberts’ UFC Career
Both Brenneman and Roberts are coming off losses, so they will want to put on a show for the fans and management in order to keep their spots in UFC.
Roberts, however, has a lot to prove in this fight and is under tremendous pressure to perform. He is 3-3 in six career UFC fights, and he has looked bad in his last two fights against Claude Patrick and Rich Attonito.
Brenneman is going to get back on track in this fight thanks to his wrestling ability, and he will send Roberts to another organization.
Fabrício Camões Will Make Tommy Hayden’s First UFC Fight One To Forget
Tommy Hayden got the opportunity of a lifetime when Reza Madadi and Rafaello Oliveira both had to pull out of a fight with Camões due to injuries during training.
Undefeated in his eight professional fights, Hayden takes a big step up in competition tonight. He last fought for Absolute Action MMA in May 2011, but he has never come close to fighting under the bright lights of the UFC stage.
Camões is making his return to UFC following two years in Tachi Palace Fighting. He is a good Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, and he will be able to overwhelm the younger, less-talented Hayden.
Filed under: UFCIn another situation, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard could sit down with plenty to talk about. Both UFC lightweights were close to fighting for UFC gold, only to see the possibility slip away when their long win streaks were snapped. In…
In another situation, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard could sit down with plenty to talk about. Both UFC lightweights were close to fighting for UFC gold, only to see the possibility slip away when their long win streaks were snapped. Instead of commiserating over their lost opportunities, the duo will stand across from each other and try to rebound back into the win column while worsening the other’s pain.
The success of the fighters is based on very differing skill sets. While Guillard favors open space as a way to utilize his quick and powerful strikes, Miller prefers to close distance, fight in tight quarters and drag the fight to the mat where he uses an attacking ground game.
In the past, the latter type of approach has been Guillard’s kryptonite. An immensely gifted fighter, Guillard has struggled with opponents who refuse to be bullied or scared off by his striking firepower. And he’s had nightmares on the ground, with all five of his Octagon losses coming via submission.
That makes Miller (20-3) a logistical problem for him to navigate. In 23 professional fights, Miller has never been knocked out, and even against heavy-handed sluggers like Duane Ludwig and Kamal Shalorus, he hasn’t been knocked down or even rocked.
Because of Miller’s chin as well as his ground prowess (11 of his 20 wins have come via tapout), oddsmakers have made him a comfortable favorite in the bout.
Guillard though, may come with some new tricks up his sleeve. After having worked with the Team Greg Jackson camp in Albuquerque, N.M., for most of his recent fights, he moved his training to Florida to prepare with the fast-growing Blackzilians squad.
There he reportedly worked hard on his ground game with jiu-jitsu coach Sergio “Babu” Gasparelli, a black belt who has tutored middleweight champ Anderson Silva and light-heavyweight contender Rashad Evans, among others.
Whether that will be enough to get past Miller remains to be seen. Guillard, after all, had only about three months since his most recent fight, the loss to Lauzon. That’s not a lot of time to make meaningful adjustments, particularly in an art so nuanced as the submission game.
Miller will no doubt try to test him there. He averages about 3.1 submission tries per 15 minutes, a number that has him just outside the top 10 in UFC history, according to FIghtMetric.
The difficulty for Miller may come in getting the fight to the ground. Historically, he is successful on only 47 percent of his takedown tries, but Miller is such a grinder that he often finds a way to drag his opponent to the mat, and occasionally, knock him down there.
While Miller is best known for his submission game, he has underrated striking. The two hardest-hitters he’s faced so far in his career are arguably Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Kamal Shalorus, and Miller knocked both of them down, directly leading to finishes. With Shalorus, he finished with ground strikes, while he locked in an armbar against Ludwig.
So despite 34 percent striking accuracy, Miller remains a dangerous striker. He also has on his side the built-in advantage of being a southpaw. Guillard has faced a few of them during his UFC run and has had uneven performances, stopping Evan Dunham with strikes while losing to Nate Diaz by submission in a pair of examples.
Guillard (29-9-2, 1 no contest) will likely be slowed down by the possibility of Miller’s shot. Even though he has strong wrestling — he stops 65 percent of takedown tries and often pops up quickly off the ground — he’s faced enough trouble there that he can’t feel too confident when he goes to the ground with a black belt.
Guillard himself connects at only a 40 percent rate, but that figure is a bit misleading, as many of his opponents stand at a distance where it’s nearly impossible to be hit. Miller won’t do that. He manages range well, and likely will try to get inside and limit Guillard’s space. Miller has never shown a fear of engaging a striker, but he goes about it with a plan. Because Guillard is more of an improvisational fighter, this may favor Miller.
Guillard will have his moments in this fight if he can keep Miller on the outside of his strikes. But Miller is a bulldog, and he won’t be denied for long. Either he’s going to get clipped on the way inside, or he’ll find his way to Guillard and turn it into his kind of fight. While Miller looked uncharacteristically outclassed in his last bout, he recently admitted to MMAFighting.com that he was battling a kidney infection and going through a bout of mononucleosis at the time.
Miller has never been rocked in his UFC career, so the odds and evidence suggest that he won’t fall into that kind of trouble against Guillard, either. And what does that leave us? A fight where he’s going to continue coming forward and trying to impose his plan. Over the years, we’ve seen Guillard panic in situations where he’s pressured, and Miller is a high-pressure fighter who hunts openings. He’ll find a way to get the fight to the ground and close it out with a second-round submission.
The new year kicks off with a bang on Friday with UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs Miller, as the UFC officially starts their deal with Fox. The show takes place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville,TN.The prelims start on Fuel TV 6PM ET/3PT, with the main …
The new year kicks off with a bang on Friday with UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs Miller, as the UFC officially starts their deal with Fox. The show takes place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville,TN.
The prelims start on Fuel TV 6PM ET/3PT, with the main card on FX at 9ET/6PT.
The main event features Melvin Guillard vs Jim Miller in a battle of two lightweights looking to stay in contention in the weight class.
Guillard (29-9-2) is looking to rebound from a loss to Joe Lauzon at UFC 136; he faces Miller (20-3), who is also coming off a loss, against number one contender Ben Henderson at UFC on Versus 5 event. A win for either guy should put them right in title picture.
“I expect a great fight between Melvin and I,” Miller said at the weigh in Thursday. “We’re two of the best guys in the division. I’m hungry for the win.”
Here are the main card fighter’s weigh in results:
At UFC on FX, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard will look to get back on track toward contending for the UFC lightweight title.Both fighters suffered disappointing losses in their final fights of 2011. In addition to the bout between Miller and Guillard, …
At UFC on FX, Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard will look to get back on track toward contending for the UFC lightweight title.
Both fighters suffered disappointing losses in their final fights of 2011.
In addition to the bout between Miller and Guillard, heavyweights Pat Barry and Christian Morecraft will also be looking to get back into the win column after suffering losses in their previous appearances.
Before Friday’s event, the fighters will hit the scales at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. on Friday at 5 pm ET.
Video of the weigh-ins will be streamed live on the above video player. After the weigh-ins, stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA for all the latest on UFC 142 and the rest of your MMA needs.
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.
At the highest levels of mixed martial arts, 2012 signifies a monumental beginning to a new era within the sport. The flagship of the sport, The UFC, has engaged its groundbreaking agreement with FOX Networks to feature MMA on live network television.T…
At the highest levels of mixed martial arts, 2012 signifies a monumental beginning to a new era within the sport. The flagship of the sport, The UFC, has engaged its groundbreaking agreement with FOX Networks to feature MMA on live network television.
The first of many installments of UFC on FOX took place in November between two heavyweight destroyers, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. Next, the UFC will take another step with FOX, as they feature UFC on FX 1.
Coming to fight fans live on FX from Nashville, Tennessee, the UFC will look to feature their first-ever extended fight card on live network television. Reminiscent of the old UFC on VS or UFC Fight Nights on Spike, this is not a star studded event, but it is loaded with explosive matchups.
Headlining this card is a matchup that spells fireworks and could become all out open war. The main event between Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller is a volatile match up of top lightweight contenders in a stacked division.
Fans will see two young veterans of the fight game. 59 combined wins vs. 12 combined losses is what these two have to offer. With 35 combined finishes, this is a dangerous match for both men who have made their reputations as athletes who are not interested in judge’s decisions.
Both reputations have been well earned and for different reasons. Neither man can be boxed into a style per say but they do represent clear and present threats in certain areas. Miller is known for his submission prowess and Guillard for his devastating striking power.
It is a classic stylistic matchup between two respected lightweights who both desperately want to make their way to title contention. Guillard was close as recently as his most recent submission loss to Joe Lauzon at UFC 136. “The Young Assassin” is now looking to get back on the horse.
He has made some recent changes in his life, particularly in relation to his camp. Having spent his fair share of time roaming the mats at world-renowned Greg Jackson’s, Guillard has made a move from the New Mexico desert to the beaches of sunny Florida and began training with the Blackzilians.
Looking to diversify his portfolio Guillard is splitting his time between the two. He has been primarily training for this fight under Mike Van Arsdale at Blackzilians. His coach has seen some drastic changes in who Melvin Guillard the fighter was and who he is becoming.
Van Arsdale sat down to talk with HurtsBad MMA about the time he has spent with Guillard and exactly what he sees today and expects tomorrow from this new addition to his camp.
Van Arsdale told Todd Jackson of HurtsBad MMA to expect some changes. He explained some of the differences. “Melvin is ready to battle now. He’s not looking for just one punch or anything. I mean he can deliver that one punch at any time, which is scary for Jim Miller, but he is ready to engage and fight the whole time.”
Guillard has seven KO wins inside the Octagon but Van Arsdale explained how that has transformed from the overall recipe to just a piece of the equation now that his conditioning is maximized. “I’m not seeing Melvin fatiguing, I’m not seeing Melvin having ups and downs during practice. I’m just seeing Melvin charging and going straight for it. I’m actually seeing Melvin finish practices harder than he started them out.”
Van Arsdale went on to say, “So that was the biggest difference was his conditioning, his confidence, and his overall ability to go in there and engage. Not just for the first minute or two minutes of a fight, but to fight hard like that and put pressure on his opponent from the beginning all the way to the end. I think that’s you’ll see.”
The thought of Guillard coming hard for three rounds, firing on all cylinders, is an intimidating thought for any lightweight. Yet even with all that confidence, Van Arsdale was sure to give credit where it is due. A win over Miller would not be worth much if he were not a top shelf lightweight.
Van Arsdale talked about their opponent and the issues he presents. “Jim is a left-handed fighter. He has a good right hook. He has pretty good wrestling and he probably has about four moves that he is really good at with his submissions. Jim Miller doesn’t get tired either. That is why we had to train Melvin so that he could breathe throughout the entire contest as well. Just in case it’s some type of crazy paced, wrestling, boxing, up and down, knockout affair.”
The talent of Jim Miller has fueled the fire of preparation, according to Van Arsdale. “We had to make sure he was prepared for that. And you know what; it was a tough camp for him. But now that the camp is over and there are no injuries or anything it turns out it was really good. So I feel really good about Melvin and his ability to go up against a guy like Jim Miller who has proved time and time again that he is just hard to deal with.”
Conditioning is only one piece of the puzzle though. Van Arsdale has brought a clear and sound approach to what they have done and how they have studied Miller in their efforts to emerge victorious on fight night.
The Blackzilian coach told Hurtsbad MMA, “I think maybe one guy dominated Miller but were not looking at that fight, we are looking at the ones where he did well. We are not going to look at a fight where some guy beat the crap out of him because that doesn’t help us. Then you’re fooling yourself.”
He added, “We are preparing for the best Jim Miller that ever lived and that is what Melvin is ready to beat now.”
The best Jim Miller is a scary lightweight combatant. And if Van Arsdale has groomed Melvin Guillard to be the man to beat that Jim Miller than surely this could also be the best Guillard MMA has ever seen as well.
Somewhere Dana White is grinning as he and Joe Silva may have formulated a masterpiece of a bout to showcase on their first run at UFC on FX. These two elite lightweights can hold their own and on any given day they can make a run at any lightweight on the planet.
The combination of the two is a recipe for success on many levels. One fighter will fall, one will prevail, but in the process of those details, fight fans are going to get a healthy dose of the finer points of this sport.
Mike Van Arsdale has done his part to prepare Guillard for the biggest test of his career, and surely Miller’s camp has done the same. When they touch gloves and begin to mix it up on January 20th, it is extremely compelling to imagine what might take place inside that Octagon.
Tune in fight fans—it’s free MMA between two top fighters in the division. And they only represent one of many enticing matchups for UFC on FX 1.
This article originally featured at Hurtsbad MMA. Follow us on Twitter @HurtsBad.
The UFC will make its return to Music City this Friday as they present the UFC on FX: Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller fight card. The event marks the first time the promotion has been back to Nashville since April 2009, when they presented a card that w…
The UFC will make its return to Music City this Friday as they present the UFC on FX: Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller fight card. The event marks the first time the promotion has been back to Nashville since April 2009, when they presented a card that was headlined by a welterweight bout between Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann.
The two fighters competing in the main event on Friday find themselves in somewhat of a pressure-filled situation, as each is coming off a loss in his last bout. Also of note, before suffering those losses Guillard and Miller had heard their names whispered as potential candidates for a shot at the UFC lightweight title.
Miller was riding a seven-fight winning streak before running into the freight train that is Benson Henderson on Aug. 14, 2011. Henderson dominated Miller on the way to unanimous decision victory, earning himself a shot at UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.
For Guillard, he saw a five-fight winning streak end just 47 seconds into his UFC 136 bout against Joe Lauzon. The swift end being the result of Lauzon clamping on a rear-naked choke and forcing the tap from Guillard.
The UFC’s lightweight division is full or worthy competitors, a win in this bout keeps the victor’s name in the mind of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, while the vanquished fighter will tumble further down the ranks, putting their hopes at a title shot all the more out of reach.
The first UFC event on FX promises to be an entertaining event, with a compelling main event between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard that could have ramifications on the lightweight division later on this year. Though before the main card starts, the undercard will be broadcast on Fuel TV, which has become the unofficial UFC network. 
In another situation,