You didn’t think the UFC was taking a break, did you?
Oh, no. After a busy week that saw three events in three days, culminating with Saturday’s hyped but star-crossed UFC 200, the Octagon was erected Wednesday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The cynical—and not incorrect—among us might argue UFC Fight Night 91 is an afterthought thrown together to take advantage of what is historically the slowest day on the sports calendar. With the 2016 ESPY Awards really the only other major or semi-major sporting or sporting-related event on the calendar Wednesday after the MLB All-Star Game, the UFC essentially has the floor to itself.
That may all be true and accurate, but don’t sleep on this card. It had some solid potential for entertainment.
In the main event, two of the bantamweight division’s hardest hitters did battle. That would be Michael McDonald, the 25-year-old who recently returned after missing more than two years with various injuries, and John Lineker, the Brazilian who recently moved up to 135 pounds after missing weight four times at flyweight.
There were plenty of other interesting fights on the card, and several fan favorites—Josh Samman, Lauren Murphy and Sam Alvey, to name a few—were in the house.
As always, the final stat lines only go so far. These are the real winners and losers from the UFC’s first visit to the Mount Rushmore State.