Josh Neer

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 Early UFC Career
4 UFC Departure and 2007
5 UFC Return
6 Mixed martial arts record
7 Gallery
8 External links

Profile

Josh "The Dentist" Neer (born March 24, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of the Miletich Fighting Systems in Bettendorf, Iowa.

He stands 5 ft. 11 in. (180 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight (155 lbs.) division.

Neer is a UFC and IFL veteran and currently fights as a lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

After an 11-0 amateur record, Josh Neer made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Gladiators 20 on March 15, 2003. He knocked out his opponent, Josh Kennedy, with a slam at 3:41 of round 1.

Neer picked up a TKO victory over Royce Louck in his next before before starting 2004 with a draw with Joe Jordan. Neer moved to 3-1 with a decision win over Jay Chacon and was then thrown into a VFC title fight against future UFC competitor, Spencer Fisher in March of 2004. In an all out war, Fisher was adjudged the split decision victor after five, 5-minute rounds.

Two months later, Neer rebounded from the Fisher loss with an armbar submission win over Kyle Jensen. That win was the first of a 10 fight win streak for Neer that would last until August of 2005. In that stretch Neer defeated such notable opponents as UFC veteran, Anthony Macias, future DREAM competitor, David Gardner and future UFC competitor, Derrick Noble.

Early UFC Career

Neer's 10 fight win streak was snapped when he made his debut for the UFC at UFC Fignt Night 1 on August 6, 2005. Neer was choked unconscious by a rear naked choke from opponent, Drew Fickett at just 1:35 of round 1.

Following the loss, Neer was asked to return to the smaller shows to get some more wins under his belt. He fought three times outside of the Octagon in two months going 2-1, with the loss coming via rear naked choke to Nick Thompson.

His performances were seen as enough to warrant him a second showing in the UFC, which he made at UFC Fight Night 3 against TUF 2 veteran, Melvin Guillard. Guillard damaged Neer early, but after he was unable to finish he became sloppy and was submitted via a Neer triangle choke at the 4:20 mark of the first frame.

Three months later, Neer was chosen as the first post-TUF performance for TUF 2 welterweight winner, Joe Stevenson. Neer was again in trouble early as he was nearly submitted with a leg lock in the first round but amazingly fought through and ended up battering Stevenson for the last two rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.

On July 8, 2006, Neer faced his third TUF 2 veteran in a row in Josh Burkman at UFC 61. Neer would not be as successful this time around though as he went down in a unanimous decision.

Fighting on short notice, Neer returned to the Octagon at UFC 62 just over a month later to face Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, Nick Diaz. In a tough fight, Neer was eventually caught and tapped with a Kimura in the third round which pushed his UFC record to 2-3.

UFC Departure and 2007

The negative UFC record and losses in his past two fights prompted Neer's departure from the UFC.

Neer immediately got back into the win column when he made Butch Hajicek submit to strikes in November of 2006.

Following the Hajicek fight, Neer fought a total of six times in 2007, with none of the six bouts getting out of the first round. The list of victories were primarily fought on smaller promotions with the lone exception resulting in a loss to Mark Miller at an IFL event via KO. The loss came in the middle of the year, and threatened to derail Neer's bid to get back into the UFC.

Fortunately, that was not the case, as Neer was called to make his return to the UFC's Octagon after he dispatched of Paul Rodriguez (TKO) and Nick Sorg (armbar).

UFC Return

Neer's return to the UFC came at UFC Fight Night 13 against TUF 4's Din Thomas in a lightweight bout. In one of the better fights of the night, Neer and Thomas fought an exciting three round battle that resulted in a shutout unanimous decision win for Neer.

Five months later, Neer was given the honor of headlining UFC Fight Night 15 against TUF 5 lightweight winner, Nate Diaz, the brother of former opponent, Nick Diaz. In a bout that earned Neer and Diaz the "Fight of the Night" bonus, the two lightweights traded positions on the ground and strikes on the feet for the full three rounds. At the end of time, Neer was graciously given the fight on one judge's scorecard while the other two awarded the split decision victory to Diaz.

In the lead up to his February 9th bout with TUF 6 welterweight winner, Mac Danzig, Neer's UFC contract was thought to be in doubt after he was arrested for drink driving. The UFC decided to take no action and at UFC Fight Night 17, Neer turned in an impressive performance as he tapped the TUF 6 Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt with a triangle choke at 3:36 of the second round. The performance also netted both Neer and Danzig the $30,000 "Fight of the Night" award.

Neer's next bout is rumored to be against fellow rising lightweight contender, Kurt Pellegrino.