Faced with the toughest test of his UFC career when he met No. 6-ranked Michael McDonald in the main event of last night’s (Wed., July 13, 2016) UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surging bantamweight John Lineker delivered one of the most scintillating MMA knockouts of the
Faced with the toughest test of his UFC career when he met No. 6-ranked Michael McDonald in the main event of last night’s (Wed., July 13, 2016) UFC Fight Night 91 from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surging bantamweight John Lineker delivered one of the most scintillating MMA knockouts of the year.
The previously No. 8-ranked ‘Hands Of Stone’ has been on an absolute tear, winning his last five bouts in the octagon, which includes a three-fight win streak with two finishes back at 135 pounds when he was forced to abandon his quest for the flyweight title after repeatedly missing weight.
But it could be argued that Lineker possesses even more power at bantamweight, and that’s a scary thing for the rest of the suddenly stacked division. After the win and in a post-fight interview with UFC on FOX, Lineker called out champion Dominick Cruz for the next title shot at 135 pounds:
While he’s certain to rise up the ranks after such an emphatic knockout over McDonald, the path to a title shot may not be so cut and dry for Lineker.
Former champion TJ Dillashaw just beat previous No. 4 Raphael Assuncao at last weekend’s UFC 200 and wants a rematch with Cruz after their ultra-close match at UFC Fight Night 81, Bryan Caraway is angling for a shot himself, and similiary surging contender Cody Garbrandt will take on Takeya Mizugaki at September’s UFC 203 and could be inching closer to a shot at the belt himself.
Taking that into consideration, do you believe Lineker already deserves a title shot, or does he need one (or more) high-profile wins before he summits that mountaintop? Cast your vote right here:
Aljamain Sterling watched as John Lineker destroyed Michael McDonald Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 91.
And while Lineker used his opportunity to call for a fight with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, Sterling took to social media to make hi…
Aljamain Sterling watched as John Lineker destroyed Michael McDonald Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 91.
And while Lineker used his opportunity to call for a fight with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, Sterling took to social media to make his push for a bout with the Brazilian.
People seem to fall into Linekers trap of "Brawl Until I Drop Your Ass!" I rewatched this HL. I like this match up! https://t.co/gM71OSLc8b
In a sport as wild and unpredictable as MMA often is, perhaps it’s fitting that, less than a week after the “biggest card in UFC history” left us feeling cold and mostly underwhelmed, a humble, under-the-radar, and most importantly free card like Fight Night 91 would come along and collectively blow our goddamn socks off. It even finished wrapping up before midnight, if you can believe it!
What Fight Night 91 may have lacked in star power, it more than made up for in just excellent displays of guys and girls punching each other in the face. In the main event of the evening, devastating face-puncher John Lineker took on the similarly hard-hitting Michael McDonald in a bantamweight contest, and the result was right up there with Lineker’s battle against Francisco Rivera in terms of just how much face was punched inside the span of three minutes.
In a sport as wild and unpredictable as MMA often is, perhaps it’s fitting that, less than a week after the “biggest card in UFC history” left us feeling cold and mostly underwhelmed, a humble, under-the-radar, and most importantly free card like Fight Night 91 would come along and collectively blow our goddamn socks off. It even finished wrapping up before midnight, if you can believe it!
What Fight Night 91 may have lacked in star power, it more than made up for in just excellent displays of guys and girls punching each other in the face. In the main event of the evening, devastating face-puncher John Lineker took on the similarly hard-hitting Michael McDonald in a bantamweight contest, and the result was right up there with Lineker’s battle against Francisco Rivera in terms of just how much face was punched inside the span of three minutes.
Video after the jump.
Rather than fill this section of the article with any analytical insight into just how good of a face puncher John Lineker is (he’s really, really good), we think it would be more appropriate to compile this list of 100% true facts about “Hands of Stone” that we posted to our Twitter as the fight was going on.
John Lineker angrily punched a wall in his bedroom once.
All credit goes to CagePotato’s research intern, Garth, for compiling that astounding list of facts.
In the co-main event of the evening, top lightweight contender took on last-second replacement and complete unknown Landon Vannata and nearly destroyed everyone’s parlays in the process. Vannata, appropriately, came out like a man with nothing to lose, nearly finishing Ferguson on a couple occasions with his wild and unpredictable striking style. Luckily for us with mortgages to pay, “El Cucuy” was able to eventually weather the storm, collect himself, and take advantage of Vannata’s limited gas tank to batter him up en route to a second round D’arce choke victory. Ferguson proceeded to call out newly-crowned lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez in his post-fight interview, but it looks like the champ is currently attending to more important affairs…
Auto Response: @TonyFergusonXT@TeamKhabib Out of the office right now sipping pina colada's I get back to You At "My" earliest convenience
Main card
John Lineker def. Michael McDonald via knockout (Round 1, 2:43)
Tony Ferguson def. Landon Vannata via submission (D’arce choke) (Round 2, 2:22)
Tim Boetsch def. Josh Samman via technical knockout (Round 2, 3:49)
Daniel Omielanczuk def. Oleksiy Oliynyk via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Keita Nakamura def. Kyle Noke via submission (rear-naked choke) (Round 2, 4:59)
Louis Smolka def. Ben Nguyen via technical knockout (Round 2, 4:41)
Preliminary card
Katlyn Chookagian def. Lauren Murphy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Sam Alvey def. Eric Spicely via submission (guillotine choke) (Round 1, 2:43)
Cortney Casey def. Cristina Stanciu via technical knockout (Round 1, 2:36)
Scott Holtzman def. Cody Pfister via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Rani Yahya def. Matthew Lopez via submission (arm-triangle choke) (Round 3, 4:19)
Alex Nicholson def. Devin Clark via knockout (Round 1, 4:57)
John Lineker made a statement at UFC Fight Night 91 Wednesday night, knocking out former title challenger Michael McDonald with a first round flurry.
Lineker claimed his fifth consecut…
John Lineker made a statement at UFC Fight Night 91 Wednesday night, knocking out former title challenger Michael McDonald with a first round flurry.
Lineker claimed his fifth consecutive win in the process and likely a title-eliminator bout for his next time inside the Octagon. He showed off that same power that caused many to believe he was a flyweight contender before weight-cutting issues forced his move to bantamweight.
Following the win, the Brazilian called out UFC champion Dominick Cruz.
In the video above, see highlights courtesy the post-fight show on FOX Sports 1.
To the surprise of nobody, Tony Ferguson and Lando Vannata earned “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC Fight Night 91 Wednesday from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The event marked the first-…
To the surprise of nobody, Tony Ferguson and Lando Vannata earned “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC Fight Night 91 Wednesday from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The event marked the first-ever trip to the state for the Octagon, as the main card and most of the prelims aired live on FOX Sports 1.
Ferguson, the No. 3 ranked lightweight in the UFC, survived an early first round attack by Vannata to earn a second round submission win via D’arce choke. The two each earned $50,000 for their efforts.
Picking up $50,000 each were John Lineker and Louis Smolka, who claimed “Performance of the Night” bonuses.
UFC Fight Night 91 went down this past evening (July 13, 2016) from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and it was an electrifying night of fights. The main event featured a crucial bantamweight clash between rising contenders Michael “Mayday” McDonald and John “Hands of Stone” Lineker. Lineker wasted little time, coming out firing in the very
UFC Fight Night 91 went down this past evening (July 13, 2016) from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and it was an electrifying night of fights. The main event featured a crucial bantamweight clash between rising contenders Michael “Mayday” McDonald and John “Hands of Stone” Lineker.
Lineker wasted little time, coming out firing in the very first round. After rocking and dropping McDonald early on, “Hands of Stone” landed a brutal left hook that shut the lights off for “Mayday”.
Check out the full fight video highlights courtesy of FOX Sports below:
