UFC 101-Declaration-Preview and Predictions Part 2-Pellegrino vs Neer

155 lbs:Kurt Pellegrino vs Josh Neer
This is a battle between two fighters that consistently put on an amazing show and come to fight each and every time those cage doors close.

Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino specializes in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has a career record of 13-4 with 9 of those wins coming via submission. He has a UFC record of 5-3 with wins over Junior Assuncao, Nate Mohr, Alberto Crane, Thiago Tavares and Rob Emerson. His losses have come against Drew Fickett, Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz. He has been in the cage with some of the best that the lightweight division has to offer and faces a tough test against Neer. Look for Pellegrino to take this fight to the ground and work his jiu-jitsu.

Josh "The Dentist" Neer is a wrestler who also possesses good Muay Thai skills. Neer has been in and out of the octagon on several occasions with varied success. He has a cumulative record of 25 wins with 12 knockouts and 9 submissions. This will be Neer's 9th fight in the octagon and he will be looking to break .500 in this outing. He has wins over Melvin Guillard, Joe Stevenson, Din Thomas and Mac Danzig. His four UFC losses have come against Drew Fickett, Josh Burkman and Nick and Nate Diaz. Neer is a member of Miletich Fighting Systems. He has the ability to finish this fight on the ground or on the feet. I am inclined to think that he would prefer to keep this fight standing and utilize his height advantage, as opposed to rolling with an experienced jiu-jitsu fighter with 9 submissions to his name.

This is an intriguing match up due to the fact that these two have common opponents in Mac Danzig, Drew Fickett, Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz. Neer defeated Danzig and Stevenson and came out on the losing end against Fickett and Diaz. Pellegrino defeated Danzig but lost to Stevenson, Fickett and Diaz. If this is any indication of how this fight will turn out you'd have to give the edge to Neer. However, mma fighters continue to improve and mature each and every day and we will be seeing two greatly improved fighters when they come to the cage on Saturday night. Will "The Dentist" be able to knock some teeth out of "Batman's" mouth or will Pellegrino play the hero on August 8th?

Prediction: In a very tough fight, which could very possibly win fight of the night, Neer wins by decision. I believe he has strong enough wrestling to neutralize Pellegrino's take down attempts and his stand-up will be the deciding factor.