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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist We just recently watched the "Mac Danzig of 'The Ultimate Fighter 9'" get his comeuppance at the hands of James Wilks, and on July 11th we will see the original article in action as he takes on Jim Miller on the undercard of UFC 100. By no means have I ever intended to deride Danzig by this moniker I hung on Damarques Johnson, or vice versa, but this was just my way of pointing out how both men were overpowering favorites from the moment they were selected to appear on 'The Ultimate Fighter.' In Mac Danzig, you had a fighter who had competed for PRIDE and he was in a house with a fighter such as Blake Bowman whose toughest fight was to find clothing to fit his tall and super slender frame.
Danzig waltzed through the program and did as expected by winning the whole thing and moving on to the competition of the UFC. He has recently hit a rough patch in losing two fights in a row, and can ill afford to lose a third lest he become the first 'TUF' winner to hit the road. Miller is a promising young fighter who has only lost two bouts over the course of his career but like Danzig, he is coming off of a loss in his most recent bout. Something has got to give in this one and either Danzig pulls out the win and remains in the UFC, or he becomes the sacrificial lamb to Miller who takes this "name" victory and continues on his way. Although, Danzig is a devout vegan so perhaps sacrificial lamb wasn't the best thing to have said in regards to how he could be perceived heading into this fight. Either way, one of these men will have to shine and push the other one out of the way and when you have something to fight for, it means we will get a much better fight to watch.
Mac Danzig is a 29 yr. old fighter from Cleveland, Ohio who now fights out of Las Vegas, Nevada and represents Xtreme Couture MMA. Danzig formerly held lightweight championships in both the King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge MMA organizations. Danzig has been somewhat of a prodigious talent as he also enoyed amateur success as the Extreme Challenge Trials 2001 U.S. MMA National Champion in the lightweight division.
Danzig made his professional debut in October of 2001 when he scored a submission win over Ray Totorico at Reality Combat Fighting 12 in Houma, Louisiana. Danzig has since gone on to fight for the aforementioned Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage promotions as well as the WEC, IFC, and PRIDE organizations.
Mac Danzig's career record stands at 18 wins against 6 losses with 1 fight being scored a draw. Of his wins, 4 have come by way of KO and 10 by submission. Notable wins have come against Buddy Clinton, Tommy Speer and Mark Bocek. Danzig's losses have come at the hands of fighters such as Kurt Pellegrino, Hayato Sakurai, and most recently Clay Guida and Josh Neer.
Danzig is primarily a grappler who looks for the submission but since working with Freddie Roach has improved his striking game by leaps and bounds. He is going to need to become and even more well rounded fighter in order to remain viable within the UFC and he shall need to exhibit this if he is going to get past Jim Miller at UFC 100.
Jim Miller is a 25 yr. old fighter from Whippany, New Jersey who fights out of American Martial Arts along with his brother, UFC middleweight Dan Miller. Jim Miller wrestled at the high school level and would go on to compete for Virginia Tech for one year before embarking on a career in mixed martial arts in 2005. With his wrestling base, he began to train at the now defunct Planet Jiu-Jitsu with his brother Dan Miller.
Jim Miller's professional debut was a successful one as he scored a unanimous decision victory over Eddie Fyvie on the Reality Fighting 10 card in November of 2005. Miller would go on to compete for the Combat in the Cage promotion as well as Cage Fury Fighting Championships, Battle Cage Xtreme, Ring of Combat and the now defunct IFL before getting the call from the UFC. Along the way he won the Cage Fury Fighting Championships Lightweight title as well as the Reality Fighting Featherweight Championship. His biggest win of all so far has been signing a four fight UFC contract along with his brother Dan, and this bout with Danzig will be the last on that contract.
Jim Miller's career record stands at 13 wins against only 2 losses with 9 wins coming by way of submission and 1 by KO. Notable wins on his record have come against such fighters as Muhsin Corbbrey, Bart Palaszewski, David Baron and Matt Wiman. His losses have come against Frankie Edgar and most recently Gray Maynard in their bout at UFC 96. It certainly stands out as remarkable that his only two losses are against fighters deemed to be near the top of the UFC lightweight class. Miller hopes to make it to that level himself and defeating Danzig will certainly aid his cause and endear him to the UFC with hopes of another contract.
Both Jim Miller and Mac Danzig are spectacularly strong grapplers with tight submission games. At this point I would have to rate Miller slightly ahead in terms of submissions and give Danzig the nod in the area of striking. This truly is a fantastic bout on paper but could wind up as a virtual stalemate between two men who cancel each other out and as such this one would not be making air as a part of the televised portion of the UFC 100 PPV. This is indeed an important bout between one man on the cusp of making it to the next level in the UFC and another who simply needs a win to prove he still is there.
Look for Jim Miller to try to take this one to the ground immediately and watch as Mac Danzig gives it his all to keep this one standing and create and maintain distance as he picks his shots. Danzig loves it on the ground but against Miller he will try and use the teachings of Freddie Roach to lead him to victory as he can ill afford to get caught against someone such as Miller. This fight may not wind up as one of the more exciting or memorable bouts on the card. It will however be a fight as both men need a win and both should also be relatively wary of the other. What this will mean is that both men look to win now and look good later on, so this one will be a fairly cautious tactical battle.
Bent's Prediction: Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision
Jim Miller is a special fighter and I rate him higher than Mac Danzig on the ground, but I just don't see him keeping the fight there long enough to win. I look for Danzig to create distance early on by stuffing takedowns, sticking the jab and moving constantly. Should Miller get frustrated it could only make it harder for him as he could quickly find himself behind on the cards if Danzig has his way. I just feel that Danzig has so much more to lose and that his experiences having fought Neer and Guida will serve him very well in being able to handle himself on July 11. Miller will remain with the UFC I would imagine and for now, Mac Danzig's UFC future looks to be safe.
In vegan terms, he could be cool as a cucumber against Miller (hopefully this makes up for the sacrificial lamb remark).
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