A major bantamweight fight between John Dodson and John Lineker will headline UFC Fight Night 96 in Portland, Oregon on October 1st.
The two fighters originally made their mark at 125lbs, but in more recent times they’ve been finding success in the 135lb division, and it was only ever going to be a matter of time before their paths finally crossed.
Dodson’s decision to move up in weight came after an unsuccessful title bid against Demetrious Johnson last year, and he made an immediate impact at UFC On FOX 19 in April, taking out Manny Gamburyan by TKO in just 37 seconds.
That wasn’t ‘The Magician’s’ first rodeo at bantamweight however, as he had previously won The Ultimate Fighter 14 while competing in that weight class.
As for Lineker, he was forced to step up to bantamweight in September of last year after consistently having struggles cutting down to the 125lb division.
Bantamweight has proven to be a good fit for him however, and so far he’s notched up three victories there, defeating Francisco Rivera, Rob Font and most recently KO’ing Michael McDonald.
In total Lineker is now on a five fight winning streak and commands the No.5 spot in the bantamweight rankings, while Dodson is at No.9.
Other notable bouts currently scheduled for UFC Fight Night 96 so far include Josh Burkman Vs Bobby Green, Will Brooks Vs Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira and Nate Marquardt Vs Tamdan McCrory.
