Dan Miller vs. Yushin Okami at UFC 98

Just a day after officially announcing UFC 98: Lesnar vs. Mir 2, scheduled for May 23rd in Las Vegas, the UFC confirmed most of the rumored fights for the card, including a surprise middleweight scrap between Dan Miller and Yushin Okami.

Miller (11-1, 3-0 UFC) is a on a serious roll along with his lightweight brother Jim, after both joined the UFC ranks following the dissolution of the IFL.  A standout submission specialist training out of the AMA Fight Club in northern New Jersey, Miller most recently dispatched uber-prospect and talented wrestler Jake Rosholt with a guillotine choke in just 1:03 of the first round at UFC Fight Night 17 in February.  Miller will certainly have to utilize more than just his grappling to deal with Okami, who has bested superior grapplers like Dean Lister with relative ease.

Okami (23-4, 7-1 UFC) has risen steadily through the UFC middleweight ranks, defeating such notable fighters as Alan Belcher, Evan Tanner, Jason MacDonald, Mike Swick, and Dean Lister along the way.  Despite his stellar record, Okami has yet to earn a title shot, and many believe it may be due to his frequent lack of finishing ability and poor marketability in the US. 

Nonetheless, it will be hard to deny Okami a title shot if he moves to 8-1 in the UFC wth a win over Miller, although the contendership at 185 is still confusing at best: Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia are certainly at the top of the ladder, while Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping will square off at UFC 100 apparently for the right to challenge for the title, and meanwhile, Thales Leites gets his shot at UFC 97 in May. 

Even UFC president Dana White suggested Okami would be in line for a title shot following his decision win over Dean Lister at UFC 92 in December, but White has seemingly swallowed his words since then.  A loss against the talented but still somewhat-unproven Miller would be devastating for Okami's title hopes, but Okami is extremely well-rounded and has dominated both strikers and grapplers in his career.

The bout is currently scheduled for the main televised card of UFC 98.  The confirmed card currently is as follows:

Televised Card:

Main Event: Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar - UFC Heavyweight Championship

Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra

Yushin Okami vs. Dan Miller

Sean Sherk vs. Frank Edgar

Preliminary Card:

James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries

Phillipe Nover vs. Kyle Bradley

Pat Barry vs. Tim Hague

Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao

Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Brandon Wolff

George Roop vs. David Kaplan

--a rumored bout between Josh Koscheck and Chris Wilson has not yet been confirmed by the UFC, but will likely be added to the televised card to finalize the event.