Cole Miller is a promoter's dream. The kid has the verbal skills, a nasty streak in the cage and killer instinct. He just needs to be a little more consistent to move into the top 10 at lightweight.
Consistency wasn't an issue tonight as he wore down T.J. O'Brien and patiently stalked him before landing a big left hook. The dazed O'Brien eventually found himself stuck in a guillotine choke and tapped at 2:38 of the second round at UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee, Wi.
"I'm glad I dropped him with the left. I think I might have broke my right in the first round. I'm just glad to get rid of him one way or the other. I get that [submission] a lot from that position [in practice]."
Miller (18-5, 7-3 UFC) showed a well-rounded game by using his boxing to set up the finish. O'Brien got off to a quick start with leg kicks and had Miller backing up for most of the first round. The 6-foot-1 Miller usually possesses a huge height and reach advantage at 155, but O'Brien's 6-2 frame gave him a little trouble. Things changed when Miller landed a big shot with 1:20 left in the first. O'Brien stopped coming forward.
In the second, Miller pushed the pace and landed the nasty left hook with 3:22 left. O'Brien slowly fell to his back where Miller refused to jump into his guard and unloaded 20-plus kicks to his legs and rear-end. When O'Brien (16-5, 0-2 UFC) sat up and shot forward to grab Miller's legs. Miller thwarted the takedown attempt and O'Brien stayed there too long. O'Brien's neck was there for the taking.
Miller locked on a guillotine choke in combination with a body lock. He only had his left arm under the chin of O'Brien, but the torque of his legs was too much for O'Brien to hold out any longer.
"All and all, I'm pretty happy with the victory. I've been working hard on my striking for several years. I was surprised that my hook dropped him like it did. I caught him on the chin just right," said Miller.
"Bruce Leroy" loses again, Hettes shows off dynamic ground game in UFC debut
Alex Cacares still hasn't been able to back up all that talk from Season 12 of "The Ultimate Fighter."
The fighter who nicknamed himself "Bruce Leroy" showed off some solid defensive skills, but Jimy Hettes wouldn't stop for a second and eventually used his slick grappling to win via guillotine choke at 3:12 of the second round.
Cacares (5-4, 0-2 UFC) came out to the cage dancing and sporting a big afro equipped nicely with a pick. He was smooth, but once the fight started the 24-year-old Hettes was the king of smooth.
The kid was non-stop with his submission attempts, scrambling and transitions. He was waiting for one mistake and Cacares finally made it in the middle of the second round.
Hettes (9-0, 1-0 UFC) was working hip control and when the fight got back to the feet, Cacares allowed the Pennsylvanian to get his arm right under his chin. Hettes jumped on his back and dumped him to the ground. Cacares was helpless and gave little resistance before tapping.
"I know I signed with the UFC, but I didn't know when I was going to fight, so I kept training and got a call from Sean Shelby and took the opportunity," said Hettes.
Hettes was called 11 days ago to fill in for the injured Leonard Garcia.
"When I was out there I got tired of listening to my coaches, corner-men and boxing coaches yell at me, so I just went forward and put all the of the chips on the table.� Now I'm going to train until I can't stand up anymore," said Hettes.
Hettes has won all nine of his fights by submission.
Markes manhandles Vemola
Karlos Vemola is a powerful light heavyweight. The massive Czech dropped down to 205 pounds after toiling as a heavyweight at 227. There's no way he expected to get overpowered by a kid making his first appearance in the UFC, but that's exactly what Ronny Markes did on his way to a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all three scorecards.
Possessing powerful shoulders and a huge back, Markes decided to go right at Vemola's strength with the clinch game. It worked. He outwrestled a six-time Czech national champ and scored eight takedowns in all. In the first, Vemola got himself back to his feet on four occasions and on each occasion was dropped back down just seconds later.
Markes (12-1, 1-0 UFC) has now won five straight, including a recent win over former WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho. It was just the third time Markes gone the distance.
After missing with some huge shots on the feet and struggling so much to fend off Markes' shots on the ground, Vemola (8-2, 1-2 UFC) was gassed by the final round.
Heavy-handed Junior Dos Santos steps back into the Octagon? against a man considered to be an equally dangerous striker, Shane Carwin. Will Junior's speed advantage be enough to hand Carwin his first KO loss? Watch UFC 131 Live on Pay-Per-View and www.UFC.tv on Saturday, Jun 11th at 6/9PM PT/ET.