Dan Miller vs. Yushin Okami, Eight Other Bouts Confirmed for UFC 98
Dan Miller
Just one day after officially announcing UFC 98: Lesnar vs. Mir 2, the UFC today confirmed the majority of the event’s lineup, adding Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra, Dan Miller vs. Yushin Okami, and Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar to the UFC 98 main card.
James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries, Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao, Patrick Barry vs. Tim Hague, Phillipe Nover vs. Kyle Bradley, Dave Kaplan vs. George Roop, and Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Brandon Wolff were all officially confirmed for the event’s preliminary card.
Though the Hughes-Serra and Sherk-Edgar bouts have been known for some time, the middleweight matchup featuring contenders Dan Miller and Yushin Okami had not been reported until this evening and the winner of the 185-pound matchup has a serious claim to a shot at Anderson Silva down the road.
Miller (11-1), the former IFL middleweight champ, has not been defeated since a 2006 loss to Mike Massenzio, the first and only of his 13 bout career. Undefeated in his last 10 bouts, Miller holds three-straight UFC victories over Rob Kimmons, Matt Horwich, and Jake Rosholt.
Okami (23-4) has lost just once in eight bouts inside the octagon, falling to former title-holder Rich Franklin in mid-2007 before winning three-straight bouts over Jason MacDonald, Evan Tanner, and Dean Lister.
UFC 98 takes place on May 23rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined the a rematch between heavyweight title-holders Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir.
For the latest UFC 98 news check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC 98 category.
Tags: Dan Miller, Yushin Okami
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awesome, im excited to see houston and the sandman james irvin back in action, as well as the muscle sherk. dont care much about serra vs. hughes… okami vs. miller looks interesting. good matchmaking ufc, cant wait to hear about the full card of 99 and 100. does anyone know if 99 will be a free event on spike? it is overseas like the stevenson-sanchez event a few weeks back.
According to the UFC 99 press release it will be a tape-delayed pay-per-view. That could change, but for now it’s looking like PPV.
im really looking forward to this card…its gonna be awesome i cant wait to see this…this fight is gonna be great the winner will be in title contention definitly
*Again, Silva has to beat Leites (if i spelled it correctly) haha.. He can get lucky you know…=) Miller vs Okami face Silva next? Okami, I would say yes,but Miller? Man, you have Nate M, Maia, Hendo/Bisping- I personally like Maia to get the next shot- he has the most realistic shot to beat Anderson. If he gets it to the ground, I say 70% he’ll sub him (just an opinion). I like Hendo in a rematch too- too much heart in that guy. But if Miller wins vs Okami and he gets a shot at silva, that is absolute whack
Clearly at least one of the fighters you listed above will get a shot before the winner of this fight, but whoever wins this is definitely in contention. Okami is closer than Miller, but I also think Miler is underrated. He needed a step up in competition and he gets it in Okami and now we’ll be able to evaluate just how good Miller really is.
Yeah I would have to agree… I dont really see a win over Okami throwing Miller into title contention. He has not had a big fight against any top tier middleweight, so I really dont see how that would make sense. Okami on the other hand, with a win here I would see him one or two fights out from a shot at the title. My fav mw, and in my opinion is most deserving of another shot at the title is Marquardt. The guy is an absolute animal and showed in the first fight until getting caught that he can be a threat and hang with Anderson.
It does clearly say “down the road” and not “next.” To me that means Miller starts a run (2-3 good quality fights perhaps) to a title shot if he wins here. Whether Silva will live up to his word and retire at the end of 09 remains to be seen though.
Yeah I like Nate too- any of the 3- Nate, Maia, Hendo (if he beats Bisping) would be a good fight for Silva. I dont like the Leites fight though.
I’m really glad to see Miller getting the respect of a scheduled fight, rather than having to step in on short notice. I definitely think that the winner of that fight is putting themselves in contention. If Anderson beats Leites in April, I think it will be interesting to see how they play that, as we already know that the winner of Hendo V. Bisping will be getting a title shot in the UK… Will Silva (if he wins) be out of action until potentially September/October before facing the winner of that fight, or will he finally get to avenge his loss to Okami (if he beats Miller) or face Marquardt or Maia. All three of those scenarios have their merits, I just wonder how Joe Silva and Dana White will play this one.
Another great card with interesting match ups. Good to see Sherk fighting on the main card again. He should be getting close to a title shot if he gets by Edgar.
To mention Millers name in the same sentence as the SPIDER is not only STUPID but, I think disrespectful. Okami should have no problem with this fight. (1st Rd stoppage). Okami was supposed to fight Anderson Late last year I think he “Okami” got injured or something. Besides that, can’t wait for Mir to Break something off Brocks Big ass. Want Sherk and Houston to win also.
Way to call the owner of the site “STUPID”…
Okami broke his hand if I remember correctly, and it seems like the division kind of moved on without him.
My bad no hard feelings wasn’t tring to bash, it’s that we all know or at least should know that he’s “Miller” is no where near Anderson’s level.
Ok Justin?
Dan Miller is closer to Anderson Silvas level than Thales Leites I consider, you do know this is MMA right? This sport is not pre-determined and us guys on this sight can make prediction after prediction after prediction but in any fight whether Silva fights Leites, Marquardt, Maia, Hollywood Hendo, Bisping, Thunder, Dan Miller, Cole Miller, Jim Miller, Mayhem Miller, Arthur Miller, the Miller Lite girls or even the stay puft marshmallow man! Neither fighter can be totally ruled out! The moral of the story Turk is regardless how ‘STUPID’ a matchup seems until hands get raised it could go either way
The Miller Lite girls would make any of us submit, I know that for fact.
I think Anderson Silva should read “The Crucible” to the Miller Lite Girls.
Damn it, you made me literally lol at work.
Maybe Spider can just knee Winona Rider from the clinch (see Chris Leben…should I keep going?
Yes! Keep going your a poet and you didnt even know it . . . . Doh!
You know what, I just deleted a 2 paragraph rant which included names like Steve Miller, Miller Huggins, and even D’miller’s Famous BBQ Sauce. It wasn’t that funny so I erased it and didn’t post it. Sorry, I’ve run out of gas…
I’d say that we don’t know that yet, and if Miller is able to beat Okami that says a lot about his skills. If he does so via stoppage, that’s something Rich Franklin couldn’t do, and really does give him a strong claim at a chance at Silva. To have a chance at Silva, vs. actually being able to beat him are two different things, and no one yet has said “Oh I think Miller is going to kick Silva’s butt,” nor do I think they would. But getting a shot at him is something he may end up deserving. Though, I think that for Miller, a win over Okami puts him in the picture, and he would have to face and beat someone else to become the number 1 contender. However, if Okami beats Miller, then that just continues his winning streak at 185, one that’s longer than Hendo or Marquardt have.
all those guys vs silva? ill take silva via an ong baak ass whooping. actually that gives me an idea. have the protector 2 b in brazil wit anderson as the badass bad guy tony jaa fights at the end now that id gladly pay a fortune to see
How many people do you think would pick Miller to win that fight against Anderson? Maybe himself and his brother. Oh yeah Maybe Daddy
Boss, how can you even try and justify that Miller is more accomplished than Leites? Leites beat Marquardt. He’s (Marquardt) the closest to he title shot Imo then Maia. After Okami Dismantles Miller no one will be talking about such ludicrous about Miller even being close to contention. Here’s 5 guys ahead of miller… Marquardt, Maia, Hendo, Bisping, Leben. And that’s just to name a few.
I said that as im thinking of the fight itself id personally rather see Silva vs Miller than Silva vs Leites, after the Cote event Silva is going to be looking to make a serious statement in the octagon come UFC 97. Your right dude Leites did beat Marquardt and forever will have a W in his column next to the time date and location of that fight but had the referee been different so would the outcome . . . . . And finally the people who would pick Dan Miller to beat up Silva would be yes his brother, his daddy, Joe Daddy, your daddy, Big Daddy, my daddy, my daddys daddy, Daddy Yankee, The NY Yankees, Widow Twankee . . . . . . And so I hear Ted Danson and Charles Manson but nobody else!
If miller beats Okami I will give him the respect that he will deserve. Don’t see it happening.
Was just on MMaCITY and they were talking about the top four guys to fight for the unified belt should BJ not defend his title.
Here’s the list anyone agree?
Maynard,sherk, (Jim Miller) Guida
Where the heck is KenFlo in their list?! Maynard and Miller fight Saturday, so that will be settled soon. Sherk is fighting Edgar later too… I mean, of those four, three are already fighting soon and solidifying/losing their position in the discussion. Guida deserves to be in the conversation for title by virtue of his winning streak, but I think Maynard is the only one on that list he can beat.
I think they were referring to one of those fighters to face Kenny for the in-term belt.
Gotcha. Well, I think BJ will come back and fight Kenny but if he doesn’t I would say he should face either the winner of Miller/Maynard, or Sherk/Edgar, the one he doesn’t face of those two get next fight, then maybe winner of Guida/Sanchez is third in line for a title shot.
To be honest, this discussion belongs here in the forums, so if you register with the site, and start up the topic we can continue it over there.
wow…appears to be a rock solid card. really looking forward to this…big shot here for miller. might be alexander’s last tilt…mcfedries should be safe from tapping out to the popcorn vendor…all good…
I think there should be a tourney for 155 if bj keeps delaying. maybe an 8 man tourney? ken-flo, sherk, guida, maynard, edgar, diaz, and two more guys. i like ken-flo, guy is very tanlented and guida. he has so much heart. and he looks like a caveman. he is a beast though. he is underrated, not yet ready for a shot at ken-flo or bj, but if he were to face say the winner of sherk-edgar maybe the winner of that will be number one contender to bj-kenny. if bj doesnt get stripped of the title.
I like what big-evil said that maia looks like the guy who can beat silva, and might submit him. I think maia is clearly the number two guy at 185 based on bjj and sub skills. he has methodically picked apart his opponents and pounced at their mistakes with sick subs. that traingle at 95 was awesome. yes nate the great and hendo are good but they had their shot at the title, let maia make silva tap. he will do it if they ever fight. I would love to see that match. or if some believe maia isnt ready have him fight nate or the winner of hendo-bisping for number 1 contender. then watch maia submit those guys with more insane bjj. maia and machida are very deserving of title shots in my opinion based on their skills and should be able to become champs if they get a shot at their respective weights, as well as making long title defenses if and when they get to be champs.
The “if bj keeps delaying” discussion belongs in the forums, please take it there.
Boss
That’s funny about all the daddy’s but in all fairness Marquardt blatantly grabbed the cage at least 2 times in the match maybe the third time was enough for the ref witch if I were refn would of done the same thing. Half the time when a guy grabs the fence to avoid a slam, if they didn’t grab it, it may well be a fight ending SLAM!
Dude i have been waiting for hughes vs serra for hella long. I can’t wait. Irving vs Mcfredries is going to be awesome and my boy houston is finally fighting again. This is a sick card dude. Don’t really care about okami’s fight. Sherk vs edgar, battle of who can lay on top for the longest.
actually sherk and edgar are pretty exciting imo…..did u not see tyson griffin/sherk but i definitly agree about the other fights…irvin is going to ko mcfedries with ease im hoping …..but houston better watch his gusmao is no slouch on the ground if houston cant end it fast or stay off the ground his ufc career will be post-poned for a little while or he could even possibly be cut
srry dude he needs to find jui jitsu school though
I really like hearing that Alexander is back in action ya he is facing a primarly standup fighter and Alexander usually gets rocked before he “turns it on” and finishes the guy (Jardine fight) but he has had a rough run of it lately.. I also believe if he were to find himself in a top notch camp and put for the effort to learning true ground work he could be really dangerous.. Remember guys you don’t have to be a BJJ blackbelt to be good on the ground, learning how to survive and use basic switches is the key forsure, we all know he has hand power but if he trained everyday in Jiu Jitsu for a bit he could be extremely better on the ground and give himself a better chance of success in the UFC.. Easy to say but hard to do being a single father raising his 4 kids, I hope he comes on top in this fight..
perhaps completely random but these are my top 10 MWs in the world
Anderson Silva
Gegard Mousasi (tho he is moving up to LHW)
Nate Marquardt
Jorge Santiago
Dan Henderson
Robbie Lawler
Demian Maia
Thales Leites
Yushin Okami
*note*
I could easily have Rich Franklin in the top 4 but he is staying up in the LHW division (except for the catch weight match v Wanderlei) I also believe that my #8 Thales Leites is getting the shot due to the fact that Silva has beaten Nate,Hendo already and that Yushin just hasn’t been top notch as of late plus the broken hand thingy imo you could throw Ronaldo Souza and Kazuo Misaki and Cung Le somewhere in the world wide MW top ten but especially with Cung not fighting for quite sometime I don’t think he can be considered in the top ten rightnow
Akiyama
It’s a shame about Mousasi moving up (he actually indicated he wants to go all the way to Heavy… I guess so he can lose to Fedor too). I guess I can go with your top 10 there….but I’m not sure about Lawler… I mean I guess he’s better than the guys below him, but I kind of think he’s a bit overrated… I’m sure we’ll get a better idea of that though once he faces off against Cung Le or Frank Shamrock over in Strikeforce.
Ya Lawler being 6th is perhaps a bit of a strecth, and ya Mousasi says that he did want to go all the way up to HW, ineresting to see how that will workout for him… I dunno I just have an odd outlook on the top tens of all the division’s but there is another time for all of that bs