Early in his career Paul advanced to the final of the IFC 7 tournament, beating Jason Godsey and Rocky Batastini and losing to former UFC heavyweight contender Gan McGee. Paul lost his King of the Cage debut bout against Ricco Rodriguez and returned to the IFC where he was a fixture before making the KOTC his home in 2002.
While there, he knocked out both stable mate Mike Kyle and RINGS USA veteran Roger Neff, and split a pair of bouts with the “Bad Seed” Bobby Hoffman. Paul is 9-1 in his last 10 fights and only one bout went the distance (the first fight with Hoffman). He comes to the UFC fresh off a 45 second stoppage of Bo Cantrell in KOTC 44.
EILERS: Justin Eilers is a former Iowa State middle linebacker with a 10-3-1 record in MMA. He trains at Miletich Fighting Systems with Tim Sylvia, Jeremy Horn, Matt Hughes, Pat Miletich and the rest of the Miletich Fighting Systems team.
A one time NFL hopeful, Eilers missed the combines and went un-drafted. He called old friend Jens Pulver to pursue fighting and began competing in local shows. His first professional bout was a decision loss to UFC triple-crown winner Dan Severn at the Victory Fighting Championships. He went on to beat recognizable names including Jonathan Ivey in the Iowa Challenge, Rocky Batastini in the IFC and Vince Lucero in Superbrawl.
Eilers battled UFC veteran Wesley Correira at Superbrawl 30 and came up short in a split-decision that favored the hometown boy. He fought Russian striker Mikhail Bogdanov in an impressive performance at the inaugural Euphoria MFC show last March. Eilers was tossed through the ropes by the Russian and landed on top of some of the event staff but he came back and punished the Red Devil. Bogdanov ate some fists and knees to the body until the end of the round. The damage done by Eilers coupled with an injury to his right knee forced Bogdanov to pull out after the first round.
In his octagon debut at UFC 49, Eilers dropped childhood friend Mike Kyle with punches in the first round.
MY PICK: Eilers. Look for a major slugfest here and it will not go the distance. Neither fighter has fought to a decision in over a year. It is unlikely they will take it easy here with so much on the line and it could be the undercard fight of the night.
Buentello is overdue for his debut and has a lot more experience, but Eilers seems to be warming up to something big. Paul deserves the shot and is certainly capable of taking out the Miletich fighter. However, despite all of his experience, this is his first time in the big cage. A mistake at this level in a bout where heavy leather is thrown bell to bell could be fatal. Eilers by knockout in the first round.