UFC Fight Night 91 Preview
Coming off of the busy International Fight week the UFC is still trying to figure out what happened.
There are new champions in two divisions and new fighters set to begin their UFC careers along with future match-ups already being hyped up.
In the last few months, the UFC has seen plenty more excitement with new champions in almost every division and massive upsets.
With all of the changes, the focus has been on the top of the divisions with champions and top challengers taking headlines.
As a result, though, there are a number of great fighters that have taken a back seat in the log jams at every division.
Those logjams will all be solved at some point as the top challengers will get their chances at the title and other challengers will emerge.
Two of those fighters will get their chance to make an impression in one division as they headline the first fight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Both John Lineker and Michael McDonald looked like they could be the next big thing in the lighter divisions.
McDonald joined the UFC out of the WEC and immediately made an impression in the Bantamweight division.
He won his first four fights in the promotion including two knockouts, which eventually earned him a title shot.
In his first main event he took on Renan Barão but for the first time, he couldn’t get the win as the champion submitted the young star ending his run.
McDonald looked like he was going to be a future star but after losing to Barão he has not been able to get much going.
After dropping another fight to Urijah Faber he took two years off and came back with a win earlier this year against Masanori Kanehara.
Now he is back in the main event, after a slight change to the card, and is looking to get his second straight win as he hopes to climb the rankings and enter into the title conversation.
In his way is Lineker who came in as a flyweight with massive power as he won four in a row with three knockouts in the division.
The entire way, though, he struggled with making weight and so he moved up a weight class after a catchweight fight with Ian McCall, a unanimous decision win for Lineker.
Since entering the division he has taken two wins and has not yet had any issues with his weight cut.
The new weight class is looking great for him as he takes his power a
nd translates it to the new weight class, he has yet to earn a knockout in the bantamweight division.
Both fighters will enter the main event looking to gain some of their momentum back from when they started their time in the UFC.
At one time Lineker and McDonald looked like they could be future champions in the UFC.
They had everything going for them with great performances to start off their time in the promotion.
Since then though they have hit some walls with losses and other issues that have stopped their momentum.
They can get that momentum back though and they have the perfect chance to do it as they hope to use their main event spot to show that they belong in the top of the bantamweight division.
To get that momentum they may have to go through a true battle as this fight doesn’t seem to be headed to the ground at any point.
Both are known for their knockout power and their striking ability while their wrestling is not their best but also not terrible.
There is little doubt that they will keep this fight standing and that they will look to end the fight quickly.
A knockout won’t only help them get the win but it is sure to make people notice in a division that is one of the few without a massive lineup of title contenders.
They are both a part of the top ten in the division and a win could put them in line for a title after TJ Dillashaw and Barão get a chance against Dominick Cruz.
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