In the first of two preliminary bouts that will be aired live on Spike TV beginning at 9:00 PM EST from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, American Top Team-product and The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 contestant Cole Miller (15-4, 4-2 UFC) will battle current UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon‘s younger brother and one-fight UFC veteran Dan Lauzon (12-2, 0-1 UFC) in a lightweight tilt pitting Miller’s extensive UFC experience against the hype surrounding Dan Lauzon’s return to the Octagon.
Miller is entering this contest following a knockout loss against Efrain Escudero at UFC 103. He managed to string together two solid submission victories ahead of the fight with Escudero as he choked out both Junie Browning and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel, the latter win earning him a Submission of the Night bonus. Lauzon will try to extend his win streak to nine as his most recent win came against Bobby “Hood” Green at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, a bout that Lauzon received a lot of criticism over due to what some fans believe was a faked groin injury and a couple of moments of stalling.
Like many fights we’ve seen in past UFC events, both fighters in this contest have a much more skilled ground games than their striking skills on the feet. Miller has historically hinged on his submission ability to win him fights while Lauzon has modified his game from being strictly a submission grappler to having the ability to punch out opponents on the floor as well.
Interestingly enough, these types of match-ups can turn into pure slugfests due to the perception that the ground fight would become a pointless hugging war of reversals. Some of these perceptions are thrown out the window and some of the higher level grapplers do end up coming out on top over their perceived equal on the ground, but this might be a fight in which Cole Miller could take advantage in the striking department.
Miller will enjoy a slight reach advantage in this battle, and he’ll also have the Muay Thai training out of American Top Team to sharpen up his stand-up, a skill that should come in handy against Lauzon. Bobby Green’s strategy in Lauzon’s last bout was to aggressively come after him with punches and knees in the clinch, and it worked effectively for most of the fight until the low blows came into play. Miller should try to take advantage of those weaknesses and avoid grappling with Lauzon despite having potentially superior skills on the floor as well.
I’ll take Miller via unanimous decision here. He has the submission ability to be dangerous, but I think he’ll find that his striking is better than Lauzon in most areas. He should be able to out point Lauzon on his way to victory.