The UFC has booked a featherweight bout with title implications for the upcoming UFC on FX 8 card, as American Nik Lentz is stepping in on short notice to fight Brazilian prospect Hacran Dias after Manny Gamburyan pulled out with an injury. The fight, which takes place May 18 in Brazil, will air on the evening’s preliminary card. Lentz (23-5-2, 1 NC) has been sensational since dropping to featherweight, defeating Eiji Mitsuoka at UFC 150 via TKO and besting Diego Nunes by unanimous decision at this past January’s UFC on FX 7 event. With his grinding wrestling style and constant willingness to push the pace, the 28-year-old Lentz could be a monster at 145, and this fight against Dias will tell us a lot about him. Dias (21-1-1) is a training partner of UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and is considered one of the top featherweight prospects on the planet. The 28-year-old Brazilian debuted in the UFC last June at UFC 147, and he defeated Yuri Alcantara in an upset victory that catapulted him into the top 15 of the featherweight division. However, he will now have to get by Lentz, and while Dias’ wrestling looked amazing against Alcantara, Lentz is a different kind of a grappler and this should make for an intriguing fight. This is an extremely close fight that could really go either way. With his exceptional record, you can expect Dias to open up as a tiny favorite, but don’t be surprised if the sharp money eventually comes in on Lentz and the line flips. Guillard Back to Jackson’s? Not So Fast Last night, UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard sent out a tweet which wrote that he was leaving the Blackzilians fight camp and heading back to Team Jackson – Winkeljohn, where he had his most career success. The move comes on the heels of the Blackzilians being extremely criticized by fans and the media for their lack luster performance as a group (only Vitor Belfort and Anthony Johnson are having any success right now), and it comes with Guillard on a bad slide that has seen him lose four of his last five fights and be on the verge of getting cut. However, MMAjunkie.com reported today that Guillard won’t be welcomed back to Jackson’s, as the team apparently held a secret vote two months ago which concluded with the decision not to allow “The Young Assassin” back to his old camp, the same camp that he trained at when the MMA world saw him run off a five-fight win streak from Feb. 2010 to July 2011. As well, Guillard is allegedly in trouble with the law as well due to some outstanding assault charges dating back to 2010. This is bad news for Guillard because he definitely needs a change of scenery in order to revitalize his career. At this point it would seem that the Blackzilians won’t take him back either after he ditched their camp, so it’s unknown where Guillard will end up, but hopefully he chooses the right camp that will best prepare him for his next fight in the UFC, which is definitely going to be do-or-die.
