Nate Diaz
Lightweights announced for May 5 card
The UFC will return to New Jersey in May for its third Fox-broadcast fight card, and a lightweight bout has already been announced for the show.
Nate Diaz will meet Jim Miller in what could wind up being a top contenders fight in the 155-pound division. UFC president Dana White announced the fight booking late Tuesday night, as well as the venue for UFC on Fox 3, which will take place May 5 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.
Miller (21-3, 12-2 UFC) is coming off an important fight that got him back in the win column following a disappointing loss to Ben Henderson in August that snapped a seven-fight winning streak. Miller submitted Melvin Guillard on Friday 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 bout was his return to lightweight after going 2-2 at welterweight. And last month 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 second card on Fox takes place Saturday in Chicago, though it’s the first under the official seven-year network deal between the UFC and Fox, 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.