In 2003 Neer won his first two professional before fighting to a draw with Miletich fighter Joe Jordan (Pictures). Josh lost a bout with Spencer Fisher (Pictures) by split decision but then reeled off 10 consecutive victories, including wins over Kyle Jensen (Pictures), Anthony Macias, David Gardner (Pictures), Derrick Noble, Jay Jack (Pictures) and Forrest Petz (Pictures).
He finally got his break and made his Octagon debut at against FFC champ Nick Thompson (Pictures), losing by rear-choke. Neer had a win the following month in a local promotion and then came back to fight in Ultimate Fight Night 3 against TUF veteran Melvin Guillard (Pictures). Josh took some heavy strikes and received a nasty cut but wound up winning the bout in the first round with a triangle choke.
STEVENSON: Joe Stevenson (Pictures) is a wrestler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist fighting out of Marc Laimon’s Cobra Kai School and has a MMA record of 24-6.
He began wrestling at age 11 and was an All-State wrestler in high school. Joe started jiu-jitsu at 13 and began fighting at 16. He has held the King of the Cage welterweight championship; KOTC lightweight championship; Ring of Fire welterweight championship; Rage in the Cage welterweight championship; and the Gladiator Challenge welterweight championship.
Joe took part in the Empire One event in 1999 and won his debut by submission. Later that year he fought in the Bas Rutten (Pictures) Invitational, defeating Steve Horton in the opening round. In his next fight he was knocked out by former UFC champ Jens Pulver (Pictures). He suffered a second loss at King of the Cage 1 where he was submitted by Chris Brennan (Pictures) in the first round via rear-choke. A third loss followed when Joe lost by guillotine choke.
Stevenson refocused and went on to win five in a row, including victories over David Roberts (Pictures) and Toby Imada (Pictures). He suffered a loss to Ronald Jhun (Pictures) at Warrior’s Quest 1. In 2001 Stevenson met a pair of UFC veterans, Edwin Dewees (Pictures) and Brad Gumm, in Gladiator Challenge and went the distance with both. Challenges against Jeremy Jackson (Pictures) (a win with strikes), Romie Aram (lost by decision), Thomas Denny (Pictures) (win by choke) and Thomas Schulte (Pictures) (win by KO) among others followed in 2002 and 2003.
Joe spent 2005 competing in The Ultimate Fighter. He met Combatzone fighter Marcus Davis in an elimination bout and pounded him out with elbows in the first round. Then he fought Jason Von Flue in the semifinal and submitted him via armbar. The title bout took place at the show’s season finale and Joe took a unanimous decision win over Luke Cummo to win the UFC contract.
MY PICK: This is another tough call. Both guys have 30 fights under their belts and have been fighting since they were teenagers. The easy pick is Stevenson. He is expected to win, he has multiple titles from other organizations and of course he won the contract. It means a lot when you have like experience between combatants. Just for the fun of it I’m going to pick Neer. If Josh wins it won’t be by luck, it will be by sheer will and determination … and it may be by decision.