Sherdog Pick’Em Trends: UFC 146 Prelims

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Jason “Mayhem” Miller has never won a fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a fact the man they call “Mayhem” hopes to soon change.

A hefty 83 percent of players in the Sherdog MMA Pick’Em fantasy game have picked Miller to beat C.B. Dollaway in their preliminary middleweight matchup at UFC 146 “Dos Santos vs. Mir” on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Only Edson Barboza, a 92-percent favorite over former WEC champion Jamie Varner, and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14 winner Diego Brandao, an 88-percent favorite over Darren Elkins, have a stronger backing from the public.

Miller, a former Icon Sport champion, last appeared at “The Ultimate Fighter 14” Finale in December, when he succumbed to third-round punches and knees to the body from Michael Bisping. The defeat halted his two-fight winning streak. The 31-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has delivered more than half (14) of his 23 professional victories by submission. Miller has never lost back-to-back fights.

A onetime NCAA All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, Dollaway has not competed since August, when he was on the receiving end of a second-round technical knockout from Jarred Hamman at UFC Live 5. The 28-year-old has dropped anchor at the Power MMA Team gym in Arizona. Dollaway has compiled a 5-4 mark in the UFC.

Other Pick’Em trends for the UFC 146 prelims:

• Better than seven out of 10 participants -- 72 percent to be exact -- expect the surging Jacob Volkmann to hand British submission ace Paul Sass his first defeat. Volkmann has pieced together a five-fight winning streak since moving down to the 155-pound division;

• An overwhelming 83 percent of users favor former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown to slow the rise of Daniel Pineda. Brown, who defeated Nam Phan by unanimous decision at UFC 133 in August, has not won consecutive bouts in nearly three years;

• Former welterweight title contender Dan Hardy will enter his showdown with Duane Ludwig as the man to beat, according to 64 percent of pickers. Hardy has lost his last four fights;

• A strong 72 percent of players have pegged Glover Teixeira as the favorite in his light heavyweight duel with American Kickboxing Academy’s Kyle Kingsbury. Teixeira will enter his promotional debut on the strength of a 15-fight winning streak.