I want to pick Jason Miller in this fight because out of the two, I believe that he needs a win the most in order to guarantee his stay with the UFC. But Dollaway is about as tough as they come.

Miller has faced better opposition in his career then Dollaway, I think of the Jacare’s and Shields of the world as an example and he was competitive against those guys for the most part. I don’t see Dollaway on the level of a Jacare, Shields or Bisping which means Mayhem is definitely taking a step down in competition.

A step down is exactly what he needs since he has failed to find success in the upper tier of the middleweight division, but a poor performance against the TUF runner up has dire consequences for the fan favorite as well. If he doesn’t go out and at the very least put on an amazingly entertaining fight he will be cut guaranteed.

But can he do it, can Mayhem put on a barnburner against Dollaway and more importantly can he win?

Jason is a technician in the clinch and on the ground. If you haven’t been able to identify this in his fights you can take my word for it, I have spent months at his training home of Reign in Orange County and I have seen his knowledge seep through on the rest of the team. The guy is good. The question is can he transition it to the cage?

I think with the Octagon jitters behind him that he not only can but will.

Taking a deeper look at Dollaway can only leave one guessing. He entered the UFC with an obvious hang up to armbars. He lost to Amir Sadollah twice with the same submission and basically the same setup. But fast forward a few years and his transitional roll with Joe Doerksen was one of the most entertaining bits of ground work we have seen inside the cage. He has obviously improved. Had he not improved in this realm he would be falling right into Jason’s best attributes heading into this fight, so good for him.

However, Dollaway is coming in off of two TKO losses and will be out nine-months by the time fight time comes around. Not the best circumstances for the Arizona based fighter.

Jason’s teammate, Mark Munoz found success against Dollaway and Jason helped Mark prepare for that fight. His insight has to be considered good on Dollaway going into this bout.

Still, who do I pick? I think the more I ponder this match the more I lean towards Jason. He has fought better and even though he has lost to better, I still see him with the more elite level experience.

I don’t think it will be an exciting fight, I honestly think this one will be a snooze fest. You mix C.B.’s layoff with his need to win and Jason’s technical ability with his need to win and I think that is exactly the fight we will see. Two fighters going out there fighting not to lose and with that the better technician should get his hand raised.

Again, my pick… Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

Read More: Jason “Mayhem” Miller (News), C.B. Dollaway, UFC 146

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