Jim Miller came up second best in the striking war with Melvin Guillard, but his ground game allowed him to pull off a submission win to get his 2012 campaign off to a winning start.
As always Guillard looked threatening in the early stages with his explosive striking and after missing with an initial flying knee he dropped Miller with a left hook and then looked for a quick finish with punches on the ground.
Miller is as tough as they come though and he not only survived but immediately began attempting to drive right through Guillard with a takedown attempt, though Guillard defends well.
Back into the striking battle they go and Guillard is looking confident, firing off a couple of head kicks and also looking for knee strikes.
So far Guillard had been doing well at keeping Miller’s takedown attempts at bay, but another flying knee strike leaves him vulnerable and though it lands Miller is able to get him to the mat.
Miller looks to bide his time and slowly use the position to his advantage, but Guillard is quick and manages to get out from under him and attempt to stand back up.
He doesn’t quite make it though as Miller scrambles up onto his back and sinks in the rear-naked choke causing Guillard to drop back down to the mat.
Miller closes in the body triangle and squeezes hard to force the tap from Guillard at 2.04mins.
It was an action packed two minutes of fighting and a fitting way to end an exciting night of fights that’s sure to have entertained the fans tuning in for the first time on FX.
