Remember the name: John Lineker. The Brazilian with the distinctly non-South American name took less than a round to dispatch Michael McDonald in the featured attraction of UFC Fight Night 91 in Sioux Falls last night, announcing himself as a serious threat to Dominick Cruz's Bantamweight title in the process.
Lineker now boasts five wins in a row, three of which have been in the division that Cruz has dominated since his return from successive injuries, and has moved into contention in a division which has recently seen top contenders Urijah Faber, Raphael Assuncao and Aljamain Sterling drop their last fights.
"Dominick Cruz, I'm coming for you BABYYYY!!!!" - @JohnLinker #UFCSiouxFalls https://t.co/oaSfXA3pvT
— UFC (@ufc) July 14, 2016
Lineker very much lived up to his 'Hands of Stone' nickname, knocking a game McDonald out at 2:40 of the first round and immediately served notice to Cruz that he had his eye on the champion's title.
I'm very glad to be in the main event. I wanted to put on a show for the fans and I think I did. Dominick Cruz, I'm coming for you baby!
There was fireworks aplenty in the co-main event, where gunslingers Tony Ferguson and late replacement Tony Vannata faced off in a wildly exciting brawl. Ferguson, who was initially slated to face fellow top lightweight Michael Chiesa, dropped the first round to debutant Vannata who had him on the canvas in the first round with a spinning back fist and again later with a kick.
Don't walk up to @TonyFergusonXT w/ your hands down b/c #SuperManPunch #UFCSiouxFalls pic.twitter.com/FhxMGCAsCk
— UFC (@ufc) July 14, 2016
Ferguson showed in the second round why he is tipped as a future champion of the UFC's lightweight division, submitting Vannata with a guillotine choke midway through the second frame.
Elsewhere on the card, Polish Heavyweight Daniel Omielańczuk bested Oleksiy Oliynk in a drab affair while there was also wins for Keita Nakamura who submitted Kyle Noke with one second left in the final round.
UFC Dublin main eventer Louis Smolka proved to be the spoiler once again, finishing hometown fighter Ben Nguyen in the final moments of the second round.
After some were left underwhelmed by some of the big names on show at UFC 200 this past Saturday, last night's event showed that the lesser-known fighters are more than capable of upstaging the sport's biggest stars.
