UFC 157: February 23, 2012 Honda Center in Anaheim, California UFC Welterweight Contender Court McGee (-230) Profile: After losing early on in The Ultimate Fighter 11, Court McGee (14-3) found himself filling in for an injured Rich Attonito and running the table to a a victory in the TUF Finale over Kris McCray. He had previously lost in a preliminary bout against fellow middleweight contender Nick Ring but was given another chance following a controversial decision. Since his win over McCray, McGee has seen some success in the Octagon with an arm-triangle choke submission win over vet Ryan Jensen and a unanimous decision victory against Dongi Yang. The 28-year-old Utah native suffered his first UFC loss against rising middleweight contender Constantinos Philippou at UFC on FX 2 via UD and followed that up with another UD loss to Ring at UFC 149. After suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, McGee made the decision to drop to welterweight from middleweight for his next fight. He trains with The Pit Elevated Fight Team in Utah and has a variety of martial arts skills to draw upon. UFC Welterweight Contender Josh Neer (+170) Profile: Josh Neer (33-12-1) is an MMA veteran who saw his six-fight winning streak come to a thundering halt with a knockout loss to Mike Pyle at UFC on FX 3 last June. He followed that up with a first-round submission loss to Justin Edwards four months later and has now suffered consecutive losses for the third time in his career. The 29-year-old from Des Moines has fought in the UFC in four different stretches with mixed results. Neer fell to Drew Fickett at UFC Ultimate Fight Night in 2005 and then went 4-5 in his next nine bouts over two different stints, including losses to both Nick and Nate Diaz. His most recent run in the UFC started with a second-round TKO of Keith Wisniewski at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson in 2011, and he then scored a first-round submission of Duane Ludwig at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller before losing to Pyle in devastating fashion. Opening UFC 157 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made McGee a moderate -230 favorite (bet $230 to win $100) while Neer opened as a +170 underdog (bet $100 to win $170) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. McGee will be making his welterweight debut here after suffering consecutive losses for the first time in his career. All three of his losses have come via UD, and maybe the move down will help him regain some of the fire that was on display when he won TUF 11. McGee had finished three straight opponents (one TKO and two submissions) including the TUF Finale victory against McCray, and he will have a four-inch reach advantage when he faces his opponent. Like McGee, Neer has also dropped two in a row and likely needs a solid performance here to remain in the organization. His last two performances have left a lot to be desired from a fighter who had looked good in his previous two UFC bouts. Failing to last a minute guillotine against Edwards after he did not make it to the second round versus Pyle has put Neer’s UFC career in jeopardy yet again. He has a difficult task ahead of him in a tough matchup featuring two fighters with a lot to prove.
