John Lineker turns up volume, extends streak at UFC Fight Night 96

While the power never really impacted his UFC Fight Night 96 main event matchup against John Dodson on Saturday in Portland, Oregon, Lineker’s relentless style may have been a big reason he picked up his sixth consecutive win.

Lineker threw 322 strikes over the five rounds compared to just 191 for Dodson. Even though Dodson connected on 101 significant strikes to Lineker’s 93, Lineker earned the favor of two of the three judges to pick up the split decision.

“I came here to give a show to you all,” Lineker said. “I trained very hard for this fight and I came here for five rounds, one right after the other.”

Lineker won rounds four and five on all three cards. Dodson took the first and fifth rounds. The fight was decided by the second round as two judges awarded it to Lineker.

His six straight wins include a 4-0 run since moving up to bantamweight.

Lineker believes he has earned a spot as the division’s top contender. That might be a tough sell. His move up in weight was prompted by missing the mark on four different occasions at 125 pounds.

Lineker couldn’t make the bantamweight limit for this fight, setting off a whole new wave of criticism and questions about his discipline.

It didn’t stop him from calling out the champion after the victory.

“I am a fighter and I will fight anyone they put in front of me,” he said. “But I think I deserve Dominick Cruz.”

He’ll probably have to wait. Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw would appear to be well ahead of Lineker in the pecking order at 135 pounds.

Dodson is even further down the list. He moved up to the division this year in hopes of winning a belt because his only two losses over the last five years were in title bouts against flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and he saw his path was blocked at 125.

Now the road to the 135-pound belt looks even more daunting.

The same is true of Will Brooks at lightweight. Brooks, the former Bellator champion, was knocked out by Alex Oliveira on Saturday night in the third round.

Brooks had his nine-fight winning streak and lost for just the second time in his professional career when he was knocked out by ground strikes from Alex Oliveira.

It was not a sparkling night for Oliveira despite the win. He had missed weight by more than five pounds and drew the ire of the crowd after taunting Brooks immediately following the knockout.

Oliveira said his actions were a response to Brooks disparaging him for missing weight.

“I was very upset because I have never missed weight before and he talked a lot of (expletive),” Oliveira said.

It was his first fight at lightweight after a run at welterweight and Oliveira said he avoid making a big cut when he fights outside of his native Brazil because the travel complicates the process.

Also on the main card, newcomers Zak Ottow and Brandon Moreno scored upset victories as late replacements for injured fighters.

Ottow took a split decision over veteran welterweight Josh Burkman and Moreno submitted flyweight contender Louis Smolka in the first round with a guillotine choke.

“I think for guys making their UFC debut, it can be pretty nerve-racking,” Ottow said. “You don’t have all those weeks weighing on you, so short-notice fights can be beneficial. I was training, I wasn’t just laying on my couch, so in that case I really think short-notice helps.”

Moreno was placed in the bout after he was eliminated from the flyweight tournament on “The Ultimate Fighter.”

He agreed it may have been helpful to not have too much time to think about the significance of his UFC debut.

“In the cage I felt excited, emotional, but I felt really, really good in the there,” he said. “I enjoyed the fight.”

Smolka had won four straight fights and was a trendy pick as a future star of the division.

Featherweight Andre Fili highlighted the preliminary card with a unanimous decision victory over Hacran Dias in a matchup of fringe contenders.

Luis Henrique da Silva submitted Joachim Christensen in the second round of a light heavyweight bout. Heavyweight Shamil Abdurakhimov earned a split decision over Walt Harris and welterweight Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos took a unanimous decision over Keita Nakamura.

Also, middleweight veteran Nate Marquardt won for just the third time in his last nine fights with a second-round knockout of Tamdan McCrory.

Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes knocked out Cody East in the second round and Ion Cutelaba won all three rounds on all three cards in a unanimous decision victory over light heavyweight Jonathan Wilson.

Ketlen Viera opened the event with a split-decision win over Kelly Faszholz in a women’s bantamweight bout.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj