Welcome to UFC Punchlandia — Put a Hurt on It! John “The Magician” Dodson and John “Hands of Stone” Lineker are throwing down in the main event of UFC Fight Night 96 in Portland. ‘Throwing down’ isn’t just a euphemism for a fight, these two former flyweights turned bantamweights have devastating punching power.
Dodson has four UFC wins by knockout, six if you count his two KOs on The Ultimate Fighter. All of Dodson’s knockouts revolve around his absolutely brutal left hand, so Lineker will need to keep his right hand up in defense. Dodson’s also got blinding speed, which just adds to the power he can unleash on an opponent in a very short amount of time.
Lineker has six UFC knockouts, and one submission win that was part of a flurry of punches that might be one of the greatest first round fights against Francisco Rivera. Lineker has a slightly more diverse set of knockouts, in that he’s put opponents away with right hand punches in addition to his left. Lineker has also taken some big shots from his opponents, like the aforementioned Cisco Rivera fight and his bout with Michael McDonald, two hard hitting bantamweights.
Lineker has the chin, but Dodson has the speed. Ultimately, this comes down to severity of knockouts, and once on The Ultimate Fighter, Dodson knocked out his opponent, Johnny Bedford, so badly that Bedford believed he was back in his home state of Ohio upon regaining consciousness, instead of Las Vegas.
Regardless of the outcome, we’ll all be eagerly watching not just the main event of Fight Night 96, but the entire card, happily clapping at the prospect of violence. The Fight Night 96 main card will be on Fox Sports 1, starting at 11 p.m. ET.