UFC on Fox: Diaz vs Miller (New Jersey) - May 5th, 2012

Let's update the final card:

Nathan Diaz vs. Jim Miller (lightweight 5 rounds) (FOX)
Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks (welterweight) (FOX)
Rousimar Palhares vs. Alan Belcher (middleweight) (FOX)
Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson (heavyweight) (FOX)

Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson (lightweight) (FUEL TV)
John Dodson vs. Tim Elliott (flyweight) (FUEL TV)
John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss (welterweight) (FUEL TV)
Louis Gaudinot vs. John Lineker (flyweight) (FUEL TV)
Danny Castillo vs. John Cholish (lightweight) (FUEL TV)
Dennis Bermudez vs. Pablo Garza (featherweight) (FUEL TV)

Roland Delorme vs. Nick Denis (bantamweight)
Mike Massenzio vs. Karlos Vemola (middleweight)

Personally, I'm expecting the whole night to be carried by the top two fights, if they deliver. I'm picking Jim Miller to win, probably by TKO. Apart from the Henderson loss, Miller has looked great and I just don't see him falling into the Diaz trap that Cerrone did. Diaz is a good fighter but I think he gets overhyped and I don't see him having enough to stop Miller or finish him. Koscheck didn't look good against Mike Pierce and I thought he was a little lucky to get the split-decision win. He is obviously a top-level wrestler, probably better than Hendricks from a technical standpoint but not by much. But if you hit him with the right punch and hit him hard enough, he will go down, and if Paulo Thiago can flash KO Koscheck, Hendricks very well could knock him out cold. Koscheck isn't that sharp standing up and he'd do well to stick to what is probably his best advantage, wrestling. I expect Koscheck/Hendricks to go one of two ways; Koscheck wrestlerapes Hendricks to win by decision, or Hendricks KO's Koscheck early on.

Weigh-In results:

MAIN CARD (FOX)

Nate Diaz (156) vs. Jim Miller (156)
Johny Hendricks (170.5) vs. Josh Koscheck (170.5)
Alan Belcher (186) vs. Rousimar Palhares (186)
Pat Barry (244) vs. Lavar Johnson (253)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV)

Tony Ferguson (154.5) vs. Michael Johnson (156)
John Dodson (126) vs. Tim Elliott (125)
John Hathaway (169) vs. Pascal Krauss (169)
Louis Gaudinot (126) vs. John Lineker (127)*
Danny Castillo (155) vs. John Cholish (155.5)
Dennis Bermudez (145.5) vs. Pablo Garza (145)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Roland Delorme (135) vs. Nick Denis (135)
Mike Massenzio (184) vs. Karlos Vemola (185)

* - Fined $1,200 for missing weight

Any members in the area who want to go, there are plenty of tickets still available from $35 to $599 on StubHub.

Mike Massenzio vs. Karlos Vemola

Massenzio made a few takedown attempts in the first round and these dictated the fight and won him the round. Both men started swinging in the second round and Vemola appeared to get rocked by a punch but he ended up getting Massenzio on the ground, going for a couple of submissions, before getting Massenzio’s back and, with no hooks, getting a rear naked choke in 1:07 of the second round.

Nick Denis vs. Roland Delorme

Delorme took some punches and then some nasty knees while Denis had his head and the referee rushed in and almost stopped it. They exchanged more punches standing up before Delorme rocked Denis and stalked him down and hit a few more stiff strikes before getting Denis down and manoeuvring into a rear naked choke, almost from the side, and Denis tapped out at 4:59. This was a hot fight and hopefully at least gets shown on Fuel.

Pablo Garza vs. Dennis Bermudez

Most of the first round was Bermudez in top position controlling the action but Garza using his long legs to threaten with submission attempts and a lot of upkicks. They did exchange submission attempts and the highlight was the slam/takedown from Bermudez that got the fight to the ground. The second round was mostly Bermudez in top position and using strikes to keep busy and prevent Garza from going for submissions. We also saw another nice slam from Bermudez. The third round was more of the same. Bermudez got the back of Garza near the end of the fight and was working for a choke as the fight ended. Not a captivating fight but it showcased Bermudez as being a tough Featherweight.

John Cholish vs. Danny Castillo

A lot of clinching and then mostly stand-up for the rest of what was an uninspiring first round. The second round saw some tentative strikes punctuated with attempted takedowns and a lot of circling around. There was a nice slam at the end but that was as exciting as the second round got. The highlight of the equally dull third round was Cholish going for a flying heel hook right before it ended.

John Lineker vs. Louis Gaudinot

Rock em’ Sock ‘em for most of the first round with both men just letting the fists fly, before it got to the ground with Gaudinot in top position. Lineker went for a heel hook but it came to nothing. More wild striking in the second round, and Lineker appeared to land more of the strikes, before the fight went to the ground with Gaudinot in top position and punishing Lineker. Gaudinot manages to sink in a tight guillotine and Lineker gets choked out with seconds to go.

Pascal Krauss vs. John Hathaway

Scrappy punching and a big knee from Hathaway are the highlights of the first round. Krauss did get top position near the end but I’d say Hathaway took the first round. The second round was mostly standing with Hathaway getting in some nice strikes. He was in top position for a short period but nothing of note was really achieved. Hathaway dominated the third and didn’t really show Krauss any respect with some of the chances he took. Hathaway landed some big shots and he was clearly fighting with the idea to do enough to win without putting himself in any real danger.

Timothy Elliot vs. John Dodson

We had lots of wild and undisciplined striking the first round but neither fighter was getting too reckless and this was another great showcase for the speed of the lighter weight divisions. Elliot got poked in the eye late in the first round and it took a couple of minutes to settle. The second round saw Elliot pull out spinning kicks and cartwheels and both guys cranked up the pace and were again going all out but Elliot got in the harder shots. More of the same hard pace in the third round but Elliot was again getting in the better and stronger shots and at the end was holding Dodson by the leg, with both standing, and really landing some big strikes. Dodson takes it 29-28 but I thought Elliot won.

Michel Johnson vs. Tony Ferguson

There was more disciplined striking from these two. Johnson dropped Ferguson last in teh first round but Ferguson almost returned the favor. They didn’t do much in the second round. Johnson got in some big strikes but that was about it as far as action goes; most of the round was both men circling each other. Round three was more circling and feints thrown with Johnson getting in a few nice strikes but it was a rather boring fight overall.