Shane Roller swings at Danny Castillo during their lightweight bout on Nov. 18, 2009. Roller won by stoppage.
Monday, Aug. 16, 2010 | 5:05 p.m.
Back when Shane Roller was a three-time All American wrestler for Oklahoma State, the path to a championship was a straight line that could be mapped out before competition even began.
As the Las Vegas-based fighter has found out, that isn’t always the case in mixed martial arts.
Roller (8-2) will look to take one step closer to the WEC lightweight title Wednesday when he meets fellow top contender Anthony Pettis (11-1) inside The Pearl at The Palms.
Some believe the winner of Wednesday’s fight will earn the next shot at current champion Ben Henderson — but Roller has reason to hold his breath.
The same rumor went around before he posted a first-round submission win in April over Anthony Njokuani.
Although he doesn’t complain about it, Roller admits it was nice being able to see exactly how far away he was from a championship during his wrestling career.
“It’s just a different approach,” Roller said. “You win in wrestling, you know you’re getting to the finals. There’s a certain set of matches you have to win to get to the finals. This is completely different.
“It hasn’t been frustrating yet. But if I keep winning and the title shot doesn’t come, I’m sure it will be.”
Should Roller deliver a performance anything similar to his last, it’s unlikely he’ll have to worry about any lightweight skipping ahead of him.
The 31-year-old was dominant in the April fight against Njokuani, submitting him at the 3:21 mark of the first round for his third straight win.
“Once I got it to the ground I felt I was in control,” Roller said. “I trained for a three-round battle but once I got it to the ground I knew just to relax. I wasn’t going to rush into anything and give him a chance to get back up.
“Once the opportunity presented itself, I sunk in a choke.”
From what Roller can see, he faces a similar opponent in Pettis this week — a dangerous striker who he should be able to control on the ground.
“I think I can win on the feet but obviously my biggest advantage is on the ground,” Roller said. “My training was the exact same as my last fight. At some point I’m going to take the fight to the ground and I’ll finish it there.”
While Roller sees similarities between his last two opponents, Pettis doesn’t see himself as another version of Njokuani.
The 23-year-old is known mostly for his striking but has actually recorded three of his last four victories by submission.
Although Pettis is respectful of Roller’s wrestling background, the Milwaukee-based lightweight believes he holds the advantage no matter where the fight takes place.
“No disrespect to Njokuani, but Shane knew that getting it to the ground would win the fight,” Pettis said. “Njokuani has a little work to do on the ground. I feel like I have those tools.
“When he takes me down, he’s going to be on defense and I’ll be on offense.”
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting
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