Who Needs A Win: UFC 118 Edition

For every UFC event, TapouTVTC.com chronicles the fighters who have their backs up against the wall. These articles are speculation, and do not represent any sort of insider information.

Name: Gabe Ruediger
Weight class: Lightweight

Fighting: Joe Lauzon

Record: 0-1 UFC, 17-5 overall

How he got here: Ruediger's first and only official UFC appearance came at UFC 63 in Sept. 2006, when he was TKO'd in the second round by Melvin Guillard. He then appeared as a cast member on "The Ultimate Fighter 5," but was kicked off the show after he failed to make weight for his bout against Corey Hill. Since then, he has gone 7-2 with various promotions, and is riding a five-fight win streak, all stoppages, with four coming by submission.

Why he needs the win: Ruediger replaces an injured Terry Etim on the Spike TV preliminary portion of UFC 118. Given his less-than-amicable departure from the organization, and the dearth of talent in the UFC's lightweight division, a poor performance could spell another one-fight stint for the submission specialist.

Name: Dan Miller
Weight class: Middleweight

Fighting: John Salter

Record: 3-3 UFC, 11-4(1) overall, currently on a three-fight losing streak

How he got here: Fresh off of winning the IFL's middleweight title, Miller won his first three UFC fights, but has since dropped three straight unanimous decisions to Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia and Michael Bisping.

Why he needs the win: Miller's losses have come against three of the best fighters in the middleweight division, but few fighters can survive a four-fight losing streak in the UFC. A loss against the less-experienced Salter should be enough to put Miller on the chopping block.


Name: James Toney
Weight class: Heavyweight

Fighting: Randy Couture

Record: 0-0

How he got here: Toney followed UFC president Dana White around the country, released a bunch of Youtube videos, asked for Brock Lesnar, turned down Kimbo Slice, and eventually got a fight with Couture.

Why he needs the win: White has made it clear that he expects Couture to take Toney down and finish him immediately. White's best-case scenario is that Couture does exactly that, and sends Toney packing from the sport after one "freak show" fight. The worst-case scenario? Toney does the unthinkable and knocks out the UFC hall-of-famer, and White is left with a boxing vs. MMA PR nightmare.