Jim Miller (Matt Erickson/HeavyMMA)
Lightweights set for five-rounder in New Jersey
Less than a week after Dana White said a planned fight between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller was not likely to be the main event in May, the lightweight bout will indeed get top billing.
Diaz and Miller were booked last week for a fight at UFC on Fox 3, which is planned for May 5 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Early Wednesday, the UFC announced that the fight will be the main event on the card and will be a five-round bout.
Miller (21-3, 12-2 UFC) got back in the win column less than two weeks ago following a disappointing loss to Ben Henderson in August that snapped a seven-fight winning streak. Miller submitted Melvin Guillard in the first round of the main event at UFC on FX in Nashville, Tenn. The win earned him Submission of the Night honors for the third time in the UFC.
Diaz (15-7, 10-5 UFC) has won back-to-back fights, both in impressive fashion. At UFC 135 in September, Diaz submitted Takanori Gomi in the first round to snap a two-fight losing streak. That fight was his return to lightweight after going 2-2 at welterweight. And in December in the co-main event of UFC 141, he dominated Donald Cerrone in the standup game to win a unanimous decision and Fight of the Night honors. Diaz has won five Fight of the Night bonuses, three Submission of the Night bonuses and was the Season 5 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
The UFC’s third card on Fox takes will be the second under the official seven-year broadcast deal between the UFC and the network, which started on Jan. 1. In November, a one-fight heavyweight title one-hour special was broadcast on Fox to get new fans acclimated to the new sport on the network. Last week in Chicago, UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis drew a reported 6.1 million viewers during the five-round main event between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.