Dan Miller of Sparta is bound for Brazil to face Rousimar Palhares at UFC 134 and the bout will be available as part of the preliminary package televised on Spike TV on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
The UFC is moving on to Fox Sports at the start of 2012, but before that contract kicks in there are still preliminary fights that will be aired on various outlets prior to Pay-Per-Views and other events. Spike TV has picked up the fight between Miller and Palhares to lead off its UFC prelims special, followed by Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Tavares. The other prelims will stream live via Facebook and the Pay-Per-View broadcast begins at 9 p.m.
Miller (13-5, 1 NC), who fights out of AMA Fight Club in Whippany, had his two-fight winning streak halted in March with a decision loss to Nate Marquardt. Heading into his 10th UFC fight, Miller is 5-4 with the promotion and finds himself a significant betting underdog to Palhares (12-3), a leg-lock specialist who has the perceived advantage of fighting in his native country.
The event, the UFC's first in Brazil in 13 years, takes place at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Palhares originally was slated to face fellow Brazilian Alexandre Ferreira, who was yanked from the card in early July, giving Miller time for a full training camp. Miller fought to a decision loss, consecutively, to title contenders Chael Sonnen and Demian Maia, then Michael Bisping to get pushed to the limit of his UFC contract. The middleweight mainstay rebounded to beat John Salter and Joe Doerksen before falling to Marquardt, who later was booted from the promotion for botched testosterone replacement therapy.
Miller had been in Milwaukee to corner his younger and lighter brother, Jim, for a co-main event fight at UFC Live on Versus 5 on Aug. 14. Jim Miller lost a decision to Ben Henderson.
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