What To Do With Cole Miller: Five Options for the UFC

Added on Sep 17, 2010 by Bill Jackson in

UFC & MMA

Wednesday night, young lightweight prospect Cole Miller earned the biggest win of his career with a hard fought second-round rear-naked choke over TUF winner Ross Pearson. The submission makes it two solid finishes in a row for Miller and it leads most to believe that Cole Miller should continue to step up his competition. Here are five options that make sense for Miller’s next step in the UFC.

5. Kurt Pellegrino

As talented as Kurt Pellegrino may be, at this point he has become the resident gatekeeper in the lightweight division. Basically if you beat him, you are ready for a big fight at 155. This would be a tough test for Miller, but I’m not sure how marketable of a fight it would be. If it were put together and Pellegrino were to lose, I think it would be his last in the UFC. Miller would then be a contender if he won.

4. Jim Miller

Jim Miller turned in another workmanlike performance over Gleison Tibau on Wednesday, winning by unanimous decision. Why not put the two Miller’s together, especially since they are on the same schedule as they both fought on Wednesday? Jim is a fringe contender with a nice win-streak going and Cole would have a chance to either take over Jim’s role, or be another feather in the cap of Jim. I’m realizing the commentating job would be a little harder as surely Joe Rogan would constantly be confusing the two in his endless stream of jargon.

3. Loser of Sherk/ Dunham

In just a little over a week, UFC 119 takes place and will feature former lightweight champ Sean Sherk’s return to the octagon against rising contender Evan Dunham. Undoubtedly the winner will be moving on to big things with title implications, but the loser will still be a tough outing for anyone and looking to rebuild his name. Miller would either be a good comeback fight for one, or he could pull off an upset and put himself towards the top. A marketable fight, but a tough outing for Miller.

2. Wiman/ Danzig

Matt Wiman grabbed a controversial win over former TUF winner Mac Danzig at UFC 115 that was basically complete garbage. The two were scheduled for an immediate rematch at Wednesday’s Ultimate Fight Night, but Danzig was forced to withdraw with a chest injury. If they don’t meet as soon as both are healthy, either would be a perfect fit for Cole Miller. Both are middle of the pack lightweights with a lot of toughness and offense. Whichever of these two against Miller would make a nice Fight Night co-main event.

1. Charles Oliveira

Who else had a breakout performance on Wednesday? Charles Oliveira. After showing off the rest of his game for the first two rounds against Efrain Escudaro, Oliveira responded to a low blow by jumping on Escudero’s back and choking him out on the feet. Oliveira has a ton of upside and a bout with Miller would show who the real prospect is. Both have decent stand-up and exceptional ground games. The difference is that Oliveira is a young master in jiu-jitsu while Miller is still a brown belt. Nonetheless, this is MMA, not jiu-jitsu, and this would be a tough bout for both fighters. Also, they both fought on the same night, so they should both be ready again at the same time.