Date/Time: Friday January 20th 9:00 PM ET, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN.

Fight Overview:

UFC’s Friday night main event on the FX will bring a high voltage lightweight bout between Mixed Martial Arts veterans Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard, with the winner getting a chance to contend for the UFC lightweight title.

The winner of this fight will jump to the top spots of the lightweight division, where another victory could open the possibility to fight for the 155-pound title. That puts Miller and Guillard on the spotlight. Both fighters need to win this match if they want to face lightweight champ Frankie Edgar in the near future.  Miller, with 11 fights inside the Octagon since 2008 and Guillard, with 15 UFC fights dating back to 2005, were considered top contenders for the lightweight title before losing their respective matches in 2011.

The 28 year-old Guillard will enter the octagon holding a career record of 29-9-2, 1 No Contest, which also includes 19 wins via TKO/KO and two victories by submission.  Guillard was riding a five fight winning streak, including three victories by KO’s or submission before suffering a setback vs. Joe Lauzon in his last MMA match (UFC 136 in October 2011).

Jim Miller comes to this fight with a career record of 20-3, including 11 wins via submission and three wins via knock out.  Miller was last seen in action at the UFC LIVE 5 in August 2011, when he lost his match vs. former WEC lightweight champ Ben Henderson by unanimous decision. Before the reverse, Miller had a respectable seven fight winning streak, finishing his opponents in four of those fights.  

This fight will bring a striker versus grappler matchup. Both fighters have shown multiple skills and weak points inside the octagon, but while the two lightweights will definitely make their best effort in this match, Miller has a slight advantage according to most MMA oddsmakers.

Jim Miller is one of the best ground fighters and submission artists in his category with half of his 20 MMA victories coming this way, which would complicate Guillard’s aspirations to vie for the title. Guillard has lost eight of his nine reverses by submission, including a recent submission loss to Joe Lauzon.

Fight Odds:

Jim Miller: -180  
Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard: +150

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