A bantamweight fight between John Lineker and Brian Kelleher has been announced for UFC 224 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on May 12th.
The 27-year-old Lineker returns to action for the first time since October of last year when he defeated Marlon Vera by unanimous decision.
Prior to that ‘Hands Of Stone’ had dropped a decision to TJ Dillashaw – a result that brought an end to a six-fight unbeaten stretch that had seen him emerge victorious against the likes of John Dodson, Michael McDonald, Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall and Francisco Rivera.
Now the 6th ranked Lineker faces the 31-year-old Kelleher, who is currently unranked at 135lbs, but has a real chance to make a solid push into the top 15 if he emerges with a win over the Brazilian.
So far Kelleher has compiled a 3-1 record in the Octagon, but though he’s picked up wins over Iuri Alcantara and Damien Stasiak, it’s his most recent unanimous decision win over Renan Barao that has really put him on the bantamweight map.
Lineker Vs Kelleher joins a UFC 224 that is set to be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington, while Vitor Belfort will make his final bow in the Octagon against Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza will fight Kelvin Gastelum.
