UFC Lightweights Shane Roller and John Alessio fought to a decision in the first UFC 148 bout to air on FX’s preliminary card broadcast. Roller, a former three-time All American wrestler at Oklahoma State, came into the bout in desperate need of a win after having dropped three straight for a combined 1-3 UFC record.
The 33-year-old journeyman Alessio is on his third UFC run. Every six years he gets a shot it seems, he fought in the Octagon in 2000, 2006 and now 2012. Sadly he’s yet to pick up a UFC win despite fighting for the 155lb title against Pat Miletich at UFC 26. He brought a two-fight losing streak into the bout.
What was the high spot of this fight?
Both Alessio and Roller had their moments in the fight, but I’d say the high point of the fight was the momentum shift mid-way through the second round when Roller, who’d been hurt and nearly finished in the first, picked up Alessio and slammed him to the mat, signalling that the fight would be going his way from here on out.
Where do these guys go from here?
Roller came so close to being exiled from the UFC he can probably still feel the cold Siberian wind blowing in through the cracks in his door. Look for him to return to the Octagon in a few months, possibly in a rematch with Melvin Guillard.
It’s hard to see how Alessio merits a return to the Octagon. Expect to see him return to the Canadian regional scene for the rest of his career.
Watch it now, later or never?
Never. There’s just too many UFC fights happening these days to bother with uneventful fights like this one.
SBN coverage of UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II
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