WEC 48 Preview: Anthony Njokuani vs. Shane Roller

Few fighters in the WEC possess more explosive striking ability than Las Vegas-based lightweight Anthony Njokuani. Anthony has shown a versatile striking attack in recent bouts and, at 6 feet tall, is a fairly large fighter for the lightweight division. Njokuani has rattled off three impressive victories in a row since losing by submission to Ben Henderson. He spoiled Chris Horodecki's WEC debut a few months back, defeating the IFC veteran via a highlight reel caliber knockout. Anthony has catapulted to the top of the division and could very well be looking at securing a title shot if he wins on Saturday. Anthony Njokuani has a professional record of 12-2 with 7 wins coming by way of knockout and 5 wins coming by way of submission. The combined career winning percentage of the opponents that he has faced thus far is 60.2%.

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Oklahoma's Shane Roller comes into Saturday's bout on a two fight win streak that saw him defeat both Marcus Hicks and Danny Castillo. Like his opponent, Roller's last loss was to reigning champion Ben Henderson. This is a golden opportunity for Shane. Competing on significant stage, he has the potential here to upset a prospect that many industry insiders are high on and secure a possible shot at the WEC lightweight championship. He has no doubt taken note of his opponent's two losses by submission and I expect Roller to come out aggressively seeking to take this fight to the canvas and secure the victory by way of submission. Shane Roller has a professional record of 7-2 with 2 wins coming by way of knockout and 4 wins coming by way of submission. The combined career winning percentage of the opponents that he has faced thus far is 69.9%.

This is an interesting matchup if for a couple of reasons. First, it pits a good striker that has only ever lost by submission against a fighter with sound submissions that has only ever lost by KO. Secondly, both guys have only two losses on their record and one of them is to a common opponent, Ben Henderson (who will be defending his WEC lightweight championship on this same card). This fight could certainly serve to provide the lightweight champion at the conclusion of this event with their next challenger. My prediction: Anthony Njokuani over Shane Roller via knockout in the 2^nd round.