Neer’s propensity for putting opponents away stems from his forward-first approach to fighting, an attitude kicked into high gear based on a sense of urgency after suffering a cut in the early stages of his match-up with Ludwig.

“I knew when I was on top and I’d seen the blood start to trickle down, I didn’t know how bad my cut was and I was just like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta finish this quick,’ so he kind of scrambled, I saw his neck and just jumped to the Guillotine,” Neer explained to UFC cameras shortly after the win. “He’s definitely the hardest puncher I’ve ever fought.”

The 28-year old, currently on a six-fight winning streak, also provided a little insight on having spent some time with similarly-programmed fighters Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz while preparing for the bout.

Check out the video below:

Friday night, Neer will likely get just that, as the veteran meets Duane Ludwig at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller from Nashville, Tennessee.

For Neer, this opportunity to compete back inside the UFC’s Octagon after being cut is exactly why he went any and every where to fight. The Iowa native won six of seven bouts after his axe from the UFC, falling only to Eddie Alvarez. This past October, Neer was signed to fight Keith Wisniewski, earning a victory and another shot at redemption.

“I didn’t get the best match ups that I wanted to get (during my first stint in the UFC),” said Neer, in a recent interview with the UFC’s website. “(Ludwig) is a real technical fighter, and he’s the type of fighter that I like to fight. He’s gonna try to finish and not just wins by points. I think he’s good.”

As for his future, Neer is only concerned with Ludwig, but adds, “I think everybody that fights should want to be a world champion. That’s definitely one of my goals, but I think more of a realistic thing is to be someone like Chris Lytle that has exciting fights every time I fight, and go in there and be remembered that way.”

Catch Ludwig-Neer when the main card fires up at 9:00 PM EST with preliminary action on Fuel TV beginning three hours earlier. Other bouts include Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft and a headlienr between top 155ers Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

According to a report on MMAJunkie, Josh Neer and Keith Wisniewski have agreed to face off at the UFC’s October 1 offering. Wisniewski has found success in his last six scraps while “The Dentist” has won four in a row with the quartet of victories all coming in the opening round of action.

The match-up marks Neer’s fourth run in the promotion after mixed results in his earlier attempts. Though on the surface the 28-year old is only 4-6 in the Octagon, the well-rounded Neer beat the likes of Joe Stevenson, Mac Danzig, and Melvin Guillard during his previous runs and holds an overall record of 31-10 including 27 finishing performances.

Wisniewski hasn’t spent nearly the amount of time in the UFC as Neer has but earned a second shot at having his hand raised under the Zuffa banner by defeating six straight opponents including UFC vets Chris Wilson and Pete Spratt. 15 of his 28 total wins have been the result of a submission stoppage.

UFC Live 6 is headlined by Dominick Cruz defending his bantamweight title against Demetrious Johnson and also features Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve as well as Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

“No, not really,” said Neer when asked whether or not there was more pressure to win on a somewhat smaller platform. “There are a lot of good guys out there that aren’t in big shows. I’ve trained with so many good guys from MFS that nobody has heard of, and they’re killers. We have guys in DSM that no one’s heard of, but they’re very good.”

While Neer told FiveOuncesofPain.com that he was undoubtedly caught off guard when recently released from the UFC in the middle of a four fight extension, the Miletich Fighting Systems trained fighter admitted that the recent dismissal has served as a real eye opener.

“During most fights, I just fight and whatever happens, happens,” said Neer. “I need to have more of a game plan and need to stick to that plan”

And that’s exactly what Josh plans to do this Friday night against the hard hitting Anselmo Martinez.

According to Neer, Martinez will be yet another stone he places in the road on his path back to his rightful home.

“I’m definitely focused on getting back to the UFC and will continue to fight for other promoters to get there,” said Neer.

With that being said, Neer went on to reveal to FiveOuncesofPain.com that he would absolutely consider fighting under the Strikeforce banner if the dollars made sense.

“Strikeforce is a good show,” said Neer. “They have good fighters and they pay pretty well too.”

In a sport where so often it’s athletes prefer to take the “I don’t care who I fight” approach, Neer walks his own path. If there was one man on this earth he would like to sort things out with the old fashioned way, Josh wants Batman, and we’re not talking Bruce Wayne.

“I want a rematch with [Kurt] Pellegrino,” said Neer. “He tricked me into thinking that he was going to stand with me. Next time, I will know better. I know that I can beat him.”

Neer wanted to thank Shark Fights, Hitman Fight Gear, and all of his training partners in Des Moines MMA.

Sherk suffered a shoulder injury while training that will keep him out of action for a few weeks according to a recent report by Sherdog.com. Sherk was looking to get back into the win column after a unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar, back at UFC 98.

In “The Muscle Shark’s” place steps Josh Neer, who is coming off a unanimous decision loss himself at the hands of Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 101. The tough decision loss to Pellegrino brought Neer back to 2-2 in the Octagon in his third go-around with the organization.

Gleison Tibau is also coming off a loss, when he dropped a split decision to Melvin Guillard at the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, back in June.

UFC 104 is set to air live on pay-per-view from the Staples Center and will be headlined by a title bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the change and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has since confirmed the matchup with a source close to the fight.

UFC 101 is currently rumored to take place on Aug. 8 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If the event is finalized for the “City of Brotherly Love,” the anticipated venue would be held the Wachovia Center. Five Ounces of Pain spoke with multiple sources earlier in the day that indicated that UFC officials would like a B.J. Penn UFC lightweight title defense vs. Kenny Florian to headline the event.

The Pellegrino vs. Neer bout features two fighters coming off impressive victories at UFC Fight Night 17, which was held last month in Tampa, Florida.

Neer took on The Ultimate Fighter season six winner Mac Danzig and submitted him in the second round with a triangle choke, earning an additional $30,000 for “Fight of the Night” bonus in the process.

Neer came into the fight on the heels of a New Year’s Eve arrest for DUI and eluding police. In spite of his legal trouble, the former Miletich Fighting Systems product recently signed a four fight extension with the UFC and will be looking for his fifth win in his last six fights. Neer’s only loss in the past 18 months was a hard fought split decision defeat against Nate Diaz during UFC Fight Night 15 in September of 2008.

Pellegrino submitted Rob Emerson with a rear naked choke in the second round the very same night as Neer’s win over Danzig. If UFC 101 takes place in Philadelphia, it will be a homecoming of sorts for Pellegrino, who is a New Jersey native. The grappling standout also relocated from Florida in recent months to open his own MMA academy in South Jersey.

Sam Caplan contributed to this report.

“Josh will be fighting Mac Danzig February 7th in the co-main event in Tampa as scheduled,” reads a statement by KO Dynasty Sports Management CEO Mickey Dubberly, who represents Neer. “Josh has been training very hard for this fight, and is looking forward to putting on a great fight for the UFC and fans. Josh would like to once again thank his family, fans, friends, training partners, UFC, and everyone that has supported him thru his career.”

Neer’s involvement in the fight had been called into question following a New Year’s Day in Des Moines, Iowa arrest on charges of driving under the influence and eluding police.

The UFC has yet to issue an official statement.

UFN 17 will emanate from the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome in Tampa with the current card reported to be the following:

• Joe Lauzon vs. Hermes Franca
• Mac Danzig vs. Josh Neer
• Amir Sadollah vs. Nick Catone
• Cain Velasquez vs. Denis Stojnic
• Anthony Johnson vs. Luigi Fioravanti
• Jake Rosholt vs. Alessio Sakara
• Rich Clementi vs. Gleison Tibau
• Kurt Pellegrino vs. Rob Emerson
• Matt Riddle vs. Steve Bruno
• Matt Grice vs. George Sotiropoulos

“We are still looking into the matter as a lot of the facts are still unclear,” the statement began. “We back Josh 100% in resolving this issue as quickly as possible, and putting this matter behind us and moving forward.”

The statement is attributed to Mickey Dubberly, an executive with KO Dynasty, who offered a personal endorsement.

“I know Josh on a personal and business level, and he is a great person, fighter, and loving father,” he says in the statement. “We apologize to Josh’s fans, family, friends, and the UFC while we have to deal with this incident.”

Dubberly closed the statement by expressing regret that the negative attention has brought the UFC but asked fans to reserve judgment until Neer has his day in court.

“In no way do we ever want to bring any negativity towards the UFC as they have been nothing but great to Josh. Josh is already looking forward to put this incident behind him, and is focusing on his fight with Mac Danzig. We would hope everyone would reserve judgment until all the facts are known in a court of law instead of just going off of heresay. No further comments will be made until after the court hearing. Josh wants to thank his friends, fans, family, training partners, the UFC, and everyone that stands behind him for supporting him thru his career.”

Neer, identified in the report as a resident of Davenport Iowa, reportedly hit a police car at approximately 12:40 a.m. local time in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.

After hitting the car, Neer allegedly drove away from the scene with a police chase then ensuing that went through the city and eventually ended up on I-35/80 at the 86th Street on-ramp.

While heading east on the Interstate, police used stop sticks in order to flatten Neer’s tires. He gave up the chase soon after and was taken into police custody.

The KCCI report indicates that the DUI charge is Neer’s second.

The UFC has yet to issued a statement regarding Neer and there is no word whether he will remain on the UFN 17 card and face Danzig.

The amount of the bonuses for the Spike TV event was $30,000 per award with Nate Diaz, Josh Neer, Alessio Sakara, and Wilson Gouveia.

Diaz won a split decision over Neer in the main event of the show but both fighters were winners after their bout was declared the “Fight of the Night” by UFC officials. Neer stated in pre-fight interviews that he planned to test Diaz’s chin but the two went to the ground early where they displayed a fluid series of submission attempts along with a variety of freestyle wrestling and judo takedowns.

Both Sakara and Gouveia competed in non-television undercard bouts. Sakara, who dropped to middleweight at UFC 82 after compiling a 3-3 record as a light heavyweight in the UFC, recorded his first win as a 185 pound fighter when he TKO’d Joe Vedepo at 1:27 of round 1. The fight earned Sakara “Knockout of the Night” honors.

Gouveia earned “Submission of the Night” honors after tapping Ryan Jensen with an armbar at 2:04 of round 2. The fight marked his debut at middleweight following a 4-2 stint as a light heavyweight in the Octagon. A member of American Top Team, Gouveia has solid standup to complement his slick submission game and is a name to watch in the UFC’s 185 pound division.

Nate Diaz (9-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is the brother of supremely talented problem-child Nick Diaz. Not only do they share a distaste for “mean-muggin”, but a true aptitude for submission fighting. Nate is a brown belt under Cesar Gracie in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but definitely operates at a black belt level as 7 of his 9 professional wins are from submissions. He defeated Manny Gamburyan in the finale of the Ultimate Fighter season 5 when Gamburyan separated his shoulder and had to concede the victory even though most perceived that Gamburyan was winning the fight. Since winning the ultimate fighter in somewhat controversial fashion, Diaz seems to exhibit a desire to prove his legitimacy in each of his fights. As a result, Diaz has capped off a 4 fight winning streak inside the UFC with a stunning come-from-behind victory over a very tough and underrated Kurt Pellegrino by triangle choke. With his middle-finger laden win Diaz has served notice that he is a threat to everyone in the lightweight division.

Although Diaz is a very talented BJJ practitioner, he is still an evolving fighter. Diaz is severely lacking in the wrestling department. He has a tendency to get bullied by stronger fighters with superior wrestling, as Pellegrino did when he used his wrestling to ride and pummel Diaz for the first 5 minutes of their tilt. But Nate showed he is as head-strong as his brother, never giving up even after being utterly dominated in the round. Diaz is very resilient, what he lacks in physical strength he makes up for with his length and patience on the ground in the submission game. He waits for mistakes and will set up multiple submissions when he sees an opening. Diaz’s overall length gives his stand up an added dimension as well that very few possess in the lightweight division, even though he is still learning how to use it to his best advantage. Diaz also lacks the overall strength to do any real damage to an opponent, but his striking is effective enough to force opponents into poor decisions. He is still learning how to set up his takedowns with his striking, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Diaz possesses a weak single leg take down and relies too much on his greco clinch. Lucky for him it doesn’t matter if he gets the takedown or is taken down himself, as his guard is absolutely treacherous. The definition of perilous, Diaz has proven that his guard is one place most lightweights do NOT want to be for long as it may be the most active guard in the division.

Josh Neer (24-6-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC) is a very savy veteran at a very young age. He trains at the Miletich camp and exhibits the standard “tough as nails” attitude that all of the MFS fighters possess. He is not outstanding in one area but is above average everywhere that a fight can go. Neer is a lifetime wrestler who has evolved into a complete fighter over the last few years and his fights show it. After fighting his whole career at 170lbs, he never seemed to be able to get that big win to put him on the map. He followed impressive wins over Melvin Guillard and Joe Stevenson in the UFC with disappointing losses to Josh Burkman and Nick Diaz. Looking for a second chance at the big time at 170lbs, he was building momentum in smaller shows until his fight with Mark Miller in the IFL. He simply got caught and was knocked out in 54 seconds, but it was enough to push Neer to make a change. A drop to lightweight followed and the UFC gave him a new lease on life. He had a dominating and imposing win over a very formidable Din Thomas. Although it was a unanimous decision, he pushed the pace and had stretches of complete mastery over Thomas. Neer proved he is going to be a menace at lightweight.

While Neer does not excel in one specific area, he brings all the intangibles that make him the type of opponent that fighters try to avoid. He has a ton of experience. He has excellent cardio. He has a cement chin. He is deceptively strong. He is extremely aggressive and in your face for the length of the fight.

Neer’s stand up is very crisp and he is extremely accurate with his strikes. He also only throws to connect, he is not one to throw punches in bunches and waste energy. He is a very good wrestler and his BJJ game is above average for most fighters coming out of MFS as they are not known for a staggering ground game. He is new to 155lbs division, only fighting twice, and both wins. He is 7-1 in his last 8 fights since leaving the UFC.

This fight is going to be a back-and-forth affair with a very high pace in the first round. I think Neer is going to be extremely confident in his ability to force the action and effectively bully Diaz around the ring and possibly into poor decisions. And I think that confidence may be his undoing. Diaz is a fighter capable of losing 14 minutes of a 15 minute fight and then catch you in a dazzling submission to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Will Neer’s submission defense be enough to effectively ground and pound Diaz, or will he abandon his ground game altogether and choose to push the stand up battle?

Look for Neer to dominate the fight early on and possibly damage Diaz heavily in the first round, as he is self-admittedly a very slow starter. Diaz will finally get some extended periods on the ground in the second round, and there is where he will catch Neer being over-aggressive with his ground and pound for the triangle choke tapout. A win for Neer goes a long way towards establishing him in the upper tier of an extremely crowded lightweight division. But a win for Diaz moves him into the top five or ten at 155lbs and one more marquee win away from a title shot. Josh Neer is a durable and hard-nosed fighter, but Nate Diaz is an extremely talented grappler riding a wave of confidence right now which should be too much for Neer’s tenacity to overcome.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) has learned that the IFL could officially announce as early as Tuesday that the card for Dec. 29 has been changed with Lierley facing Horodecki in the WGP lightweight final. We’ve also learned that L.C. Davis will be Fabiano’s opponent for the championship of the newly-created featherweight division.

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