American Top Team’s Miller went 2-2 in the WEC in 2007 and 2008, but enters ASTRA with a three fight win streak.  Most recently, Miller submitted “Cheesesteak” Anthony Morrison (15-8) at SHINE Fights 2 in Miami last September.

Omigawa went 0-2 in the UFC’s lightweight division 2007 and 2008, but has since gone 5-2-1 after returning to a more suitable 145 pounds.  Most recently he TKO’d “Streetfight Bancho” Hiroyuki Takaya (12-8-1) at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve.

The first ASTRA event will mark the end of Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida‘s (9-7-1) honorable MMA career, though no opponent for his final fight has been announced.

From Morrison’s back, Miller switched to full mount and sank to technique before sprawling out in side control to finish Morrison, who tapped meekly.

In the first round, Miller absorbed stinging leg kicks to his rear and lead leg before clinching with Morrison against the cage and exchanging knees to the body with the shorter fighter, Morrison. Miller scored a sure takedown, but Morrison grabbed the cage to keep his feet. The referee immediately took a point.

Miller returned to the clinch with Morrison and wrestled him to his knees. Miller took Morrison’s back, flattened him out, and rolled him into a body triangle as he worked the rear naked choke until the bell.

The fight card:

“Jucao” Roan Carneiro (12-8) v “Macaco” Jorge Patino (22-11-1)
“Buscape” Luiz Firmino (12-4) v “Irish Assassin” Ryan Healy (10-5-1)
“Sobrevivente” Flavio Alvaro (24-6) v “White Bear” Jean Silva (16-8-3)
Yves Edwards (34-15-1 v James Warfield (12-4)
Junior Assuncao (8-4) v “Gladiator” Gideon Ray (15-10-1)
Micah Miller (11-3) v Anthony Morrison (7-6)
“Whisper” Herbert Goodman (5-4) v James Brasco (5-1)
Phil Friedman (1-1) v Brian Fuery (0-0)
Danny Chavez (2-1) v “Tagarela” Jonatas Gurgel (3-0)

American Top Team vs. The World will be held in Miami 4 September, but broadcast on The Fight Network 12 September.

ATT’s Carneiro enters Shine off of a 2-3 stint in the UFC ending with split decision loss to “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (15-10) at UFC 88 in Atlanta last September.

Patino won a UD over “Blackjack” Beau Baker (7-2) at KAPMMA in Newark last February.

The card also features UFC vet Junior Assuncao (8-4), WEC vets Carlo Prater (24-7-1), “Maverick” Micah Miller (12-3) and “Irish Assassin” Ryan Healy (4-4-1), and PRIDE and DREAM vet “Buscape” Luis Firmino (12-4).

From the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” on Spike TV Wednesday night in Fayetteville to the debut of Mixed Fighting Alliance in Miami, American Top Team set the pace of champions. ATT fighters scored big as well at CQC “In the Cage” in Charlotte and during the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Finale in Las Vegas Saturday night.

“Snowman” Jeff Monson (25-8) defeated “Suave” Ricco Rodriguez (30-9) via unanimous decision Saturday night during the main event at the Mixed Fighting Alliance debut in Miami.

“I am happy with the win but I was a little sloppy tonight.” Monson told Fighters.com following the fight.

The main event battle at MFA “There Will Be Blood” was a full round war with each fighter going the distance but Monson winning on all cards in the end. Monson, famous for his blunt honesty, had criticism for his performance.

“A win is a win but I need to improve.” The Abu Dhabi and UFC veteran told Fighters.com. “My jiu-jitsu felt good in the fight but my boxing was a little weak.” Monson continued, “I need to spend more time in the American Top Team gym here in Florida. You know, I need to work with more guys down here to prepare for fights.”

When asked what the future holds beyond the World Grappling Championship in Switzerland 20 December and a fight at Sengoku in March 2009, Monson responded, “I’d really like a shot at Affliction eventually. I think I’d do well there.”

Monson’s teammate and former WWE star Bobby Lashley (1-0) won his MMA debut at MFA in Miami as well when he defeated Joshua Franklin (0-1) in devastating fashion with a TKO stoppage due to strikes in the first round. Lashley quickly raced forward scooping Franklin up and slamming him down into the canvas followed by a barrage of ground-and-pound cuing the referee to step in and stop the action.

Saturday night brought another big win for American Top Team when Micah Miller (10-2) defeated Jason Palacios (6-6) via submission at CQC: “In the Cage” in Charlotte to become the featherweight champion.

When asked about the victory, Miller told Fighters.com, “It was a good win but tonight I went out and fought conservatively. In the fight I lost against Josh Grispi (12-1) I was too aggressive. I think in the future I need to find a happy medium between the two.”

The championship bout at CQC was a war where Miller expressed respect for the punching power of Palacios. Miller stated, “Jason [Palacios] hits hard. Tonight he didn’t hit me flush but I could feel the wind and power from his punches.”

Miller powered through himself and defended the attacks of Palacios to score a strong rear naked choke for the win at the 4:23 mark of the second round. Miller revealed, “Eventually Jason [Palacios] slipped on his feet in the second round and as he was getting up, I jumped on his back and got the the choke.”

In other action Saturday night, American Top Team saw additional success during The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 Finale in Las Vegas when Wilson Gouveia (12-5) submitted Canadian middleweight “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-11) with elbow strikes during the opening round.

Although Gouveia missed weight for the fight he vowed to never let it happen again when questioned by Joe Rogan.

“Killa B” Ben Saunders (7-0-2) set the tone of things to come from American Top Team for the second week of December when he defeated Brandon Wolff (5-3-0) via TKO stoppage at 1:49 of round one Wednesday night at Fort Bragg during the UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” event.

Saunders’ performance was brutally efficient and triggered comparisons to UFC middleweight champion “Spider” Anderson Silva (23-4).

American Top Team fighter and Ultimate Fighter alumnus Luigi Fioravanti (14-4) stayed in theme for the week by defeating Brodie Farber (12-5) via unanimous decision on the undercard of UFC’s “Fight for the Troops” event as well.

At minimum, such a streak of wins by one gym in a span of one week speaks to the strength and competitiveness of American Top Team positioning the Coconut Creek institution as one of the best mixed martial arts training centers in the world.

Fighters.com: Micah, you are scheduled to fight Jason Palacios at CQC tomorrow night. On paper it looks like a pretty even fight stylistically. Where do you feel you might have an advantage in the fight, if any?

Micah Miller: Well, I don’t really know much about Jason. So, I don’t really know where my strengths or my advantages are in this fight. When I trained for this fight, I just concentrated on myself and tried to make myself as good as can be. I trained every aspect and tried to get as good as I could at every aspect. I’ll just go out there and see how the fight unfolds.

Fighters.com: Speaking of training, how does it feel to be part of such a renowned gym as American Top Team with teammates such as new WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown (16-4) among many other notable fighters?

Micah Miller: It’s an honor. I definitely don’t take it for granted. Everyday I walk into the gym I think about how lucky I am. I use the gym to its full potential.

Fighters.com: Your older brother Cole Miller (14-3) is also an American Top Team member. How has Cole played an role in your MMA career?

Micah Miller: Well, he started doing this a little before I started. Really, it makes things easy because I can blueprint my career after his career. He’s been excelling lately. And the mistakes he’s made in the past I can look at and not make in my fights. Cole’s a level above me so I am always chasing him.

Fighters.com: And Cole is one of your primary training partners as well, correct? I always see him in your corner every fight.

Micah Miller: Yeah, absolutely.

Fighters.com: You have something a lot of other fighters don’t have, I assume, in the fact that Cole provides you both moral and family support in the midst of a fight.

Micah Miller: Yeah, you’re right. [laughing]

Fighters.com: What is it like to have your big brother in the corner giving you advice? I’m sure he has insight other trainers might not.

Micah Miller: Yeah, he knows me really well. Not only as a fighter but as a person. He’s knows what kind of drive that I have. He knows I am strong mentally. You know, it’s easy to have someone in your corner telling you what to do when you trust that they really know who you are.

Fighters.com: You have a really solid career and you are still very young. Does your age provide optimism for your longevity in the sport of mixed martial arts?

Micah Miller: Absolutely. Yves Edwards (34-15-1) is a teammate of mine. When he was coming up I looked up to him so much as a fighter. And the other day he was talking to me about how good I am doing and where I am at in the sport. He said he had never seen anybody excel as fast as I have.

It was such a huge compliment. It’s good to see people like Yves who I look up too; that are really good; giving me high praise. It’s an honor to hear this but at the same time, it’s come with a lot of hard work.

Fighters.com: You briefly trained earlier in your career at the HardCore Gym in Athens with Adam and Rory Singer (12-8). What’s your thoughts on MMA in the state of Georgia these days?

Micah Miller: I think it’s great. Especially a gym like the HardCore Gym. Because the fighters at HardCore not only train there but they go over and train with Roberto Traven (6-3-1) and Junior Assuncao (1-1) and Paul Creighton (2-1). Some of these best guys. Jeff Bedard (10-2) too. You know, the elite guys in Georgia get together and have some really good training sessions. So, it’s kind of exploded.

Fighters.com: Speaking of elite Georgia fighters, Brian Bowles (7-0) often participates in those sort of training sessions. He just scored a strong victory at WEC 37 and most industry insiders are picking him to face Miguel Torres (35-1) for a title shot. Do you know Brian very well?

Micah Miller: Oh, I know Brian really well. Me and Brian fought as amateurs before I started training at the HardCore Gym. I trained with him for about a year and half. When I heard there was going to be a bantamweight division and that Brian wanted to go for it; I knew that he was going to do great things.

It’s funny, I was killing myself for not betting on that Charlie Valencia (9-5) fight. Because I knew that Brian was about to explode onto the scene. But I missed out on the bets because he’s not an underdog anymore.

Fighters.com: Yeah, it seems that Brian flew under the radar for a while due to a lack of promotion.

Micah Miller: Yeah, it’s funny to have the insight on Brian that guys like me have. Having fought him and trained with him for so long. You know, I know better than anybody. So it’s been kind of funny in the past reading headlines and articles of people picking fighters to win against him. It’s just funny. I’d sit back and laugh and watch Brian dominate his opponents.

Fighters.com: Pardon the change of pace here but you experienced a tough loss in August against Josh Grispi (12-1) at the WEC 30. What did you learn from the loss?

Micah Miller: It’s hard to say. I worked really hard. For the Grispi fight I trained harder than I’d ever trained before in my life. I was in better shape than I’d ever been for that fight. You know, I kind of thought that sometimes hard work isn’t rewarded. Sometimes it’s all in how you fight mentally. And how smart you fight.

I didn’t fight that fight smart. I went out there and got impatient. I chased him. I came to him and then he hit me with a good shot. So, sometimes no matter how hard you train or how good of shape you’re in or how much defense you work. Sometimes you just get caught. It really made me think about gameplans for fights. And to stay more patient.

Fighters.com: You are scheduled to fight Dwayne Shelton (8-4)  January at “Rumble at Robarts” in Sarasota. What’s your thoughts on Shelton as an opponent?

Micah Miller: Well, he fought my brother Cole. So I have good insight. I know what he brings to the table and it’s nothing close to what I bring to the table.

Fighters.com: Micah, thanks for your time. Fighters.com would like to wish you the best of luck in your fight tomorrow and the bout in January. Enjoy your dinner tonight. I know cutting weight is a pain sometimes.

Micah Miller: [laughing] Yeah, absolutely.

Fighters.com: But I think you lighter fighters sometimes have it easier than bigger guys like light heavyweights. [laughing] Right? I know that light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (16-4) sometimes walks around naturally at about two hundred and forty pounds.

Micah Miller: Oh yeah. I have seen him that weight before. He’d come to Athens sometimes when I still lived there and I saw him get on a scale in my kitchen once at two hundred and forty five pounds. [laughing]

Fighters.com: [laughing] Well you know, I am going to sound like a broken record lately, but since we’ve mentioned Forrest and since you are from Georgia, who are you picking to win the upcoming title shot between Forrest and “Sugar” Rashad Evans (12-0-1)?

Micah Miller: I expect Forrest to win against Rashad. I think it’ll be closer than most people think. You know, just because Forrest is coming off winning the title. People are maybe picking Forrest by default. But, I think it’s a real even match-up. And I think that it’s going to be a grind. And I will pick Forrest in any grind ever. It’s hard to pick against Forrest in any five round fight.

Fighters.com: Well Micah, again, thanks for your time. Good luck.

Micah Miller: Yeah man, I appreciate it.

At 4:43 of round four, Condit touched – and, maybe that’s all too literal of a description – Miura with a knee to the noggin.

Miura’s body and heart gave in to a brutal back-and-forth battle.  He dove for Condit’s ankle, and that was it.  He had nothing left.

Several times, Condit could’ve similarly surrendered on the receiving end of clean punches from the one-time middleweight, but didn’t.

That’s why Condit is a champion and Miura isn’t, both tonight and in general.

However, before the fight Condit made clear that he didn’t feel like Miura should be on the other side of the cage from him.

Isn’t that always the preface to a brutal back-and-forth battle?

Condit sits on the precipice of the welterweight top ten; and, now, Miura sits on a 9-5 record.

Condit was dumped on the mat thrice in the first round alone, swept from the mount consistently, and tagged with clean power shots from Miura.

Should Miura have been such a challenge?  Untested at the top of the division, Condit’s “W” only exposed how far the rising star has to go.

“All American” Brian Stann (6-1) has still farther.

Stann didn’t so much collapse at the end of any particular strike from Steve Cantwell (6-1) as collapse at the end of all of them.

Cantwell won the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship by TKO at 4:01 of round two when Stann fell face first into the mat.

Both fighters were gassed at the second round’s opening bell after a first session fought in scintillating spurts and won by Stann on all three judges’ scored cards.

Cantwell sustained the pressure with a mixed bag of fists, knees, and feet while Stann withered.

Cantwell’s win was revenge for a 2007 TKO loss to Stann, but may be for naught as the WEC will knockout its 205-pound division before the end of this year.

Fighters.com speculates that the next time Stann fights it’ll be in the UFC’s middleweight division.

WEC Lightweight Champion “Worm” Jamie Varner (15-2) looked like he got hit by…well, a “Wrecking Ball” after a minute in the cage with Marcus Hicks (8-1).

Varner was slammed twice, nearly tapped in Hicks’s bread-and-butter guillotine, and couldn’t get a beat on the 5’7″ brawler standing-up.

“He kept taking me down.  I’ve never been taken down like that in MMA before,” Varner admitted after the fight.

But, one minute was about how long it took Varner to find his range.

Once Varner rattled Hicks with a knee as Hicks shot to dump Varner, it was all “Worm” digging holes in Hicks’s skull.

Varner unloaded a barrage that Hicks seemed to walk through until the final onslaught beginning with two knees square on Hicks’s jaw and three straight rights that finally left Hicks limp on the mat at 2:08 of round one.

“I’m sure I’ll see [Hicks] again,” Varner said after the TKO title defense.

Bantamweight Brian Bowles (6-0) fell “Angel of Death” Damacio Page (10-4) at 3:30 of round one in a guillotine choke cinched as Page hoisted Bowles for a slam.

Page stumbled with Bowles monkeyed around him holding the submission before rocking backwards and collapsing as he tapped out.

The fighters had exchanged evenly to begin the fight, Page taking his advantage standing while Bowles had nearly locked a guillotine on the mat early in the round.

“Fluke” Josh Grispi (9-1) tagged Micah Miller (9-2) with an overhand right to Miller’s temple that spiraled Miller to the mat.  Grispi closed the show with a pair of rights before referee Herb Dean stepped in to end the fight at :50 of round one.

Brock Larson (23-2-1) slobberknocked Carlo Prater (23-6-1) with a straight left and finished him off on the mat at :37 of round one.

Las Vegas favorite Blas Avena (3-2) wheeled lefts and rights at the cage, dropping opponent Dave Terrel (5-2), then leaving him slumped and eating clean shots until the referee stoppage 1:07 of the first round.

Lightweight Shane Roller (4-1) finally locked in a guillotine choke on his third attempt at 3:00 of the first round to tap “Maniac” Todd Moore (9-2).

Lightweight Mike Budnik (7-0) tapped Greg McIntyre (5-3) by triangle choke at 3:21 of round three.

Bantamweight Scott Jorgensen (5-2) won a unanimous decision over Kenji Osawa (13-8-2).

Everyone made weight, except for WEC lightweight title challenger “Wrecking Ball” Marcus Hicks (8-0), who needed an hour to drop one pound before stepping into the cage across from Champ “Worm” Jamie Varner (14-2).

Curiously, WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Stann (6-0) weighed 201 1/2 pounds, causing “Version 2.5″ Rory Singer (11-8) to shout from the crowd, “201!  What!?”

Stann’s opponent, Steve Cantwell (5-1), weighed-in at the 205-pound limit.

Refresh Fighters.com tonight for live coverage from The Joint in Las Vegas.

Bantamweight Brian Bowles (5-0) will fight “Angel of Death” Damacio Page (10-3), and Micah Miller (9-1) will meet “The Fluke” Josh Grispi (8-1) in a featherweight match-up.

Bowles, from Athens, GA, last fought in WEC 31 in December, where he KO’d “Louro” Marcos Galvao (6-2) in the second round. He made his professional debut two years ago.

Albuquerque’s “Angel of Death” made his WEC debut in February when he replaced an injured Jesse Moreng (8-1) on short notice to win a unanimous decision over Scott Jorgensen (4-2).

American Top Team fighter Miller will look to win his third fight in a row after his first career loss last June at WEC 28, a unanimous decision that went to Cub Swanson (12-2).

Nineteen-year-old Grispi also made his WEC debut in February, submitting “The Machine” Mark Hominick (15-8) with a rear-naked choke in the first round.