Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring and play-by-play as UFC Fight Night Portland, or UFC Fight Night 96 if you prefer, takes place in the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
The headliner will see former flyweight contenders clash at bantamweight, with John Lineker taking on John Dodson. Technically the fight is at a catchweight since Lineker missed the 136-pound limit.
Live results and play-by-play will commence with the Fight Pass broadcast at 7:15pm ET/4:15pm PT. Four fights will air there, before moving to FS2 at 9pm ET/6pm PT. Finally, the four-fight main card picks up on FS1 at 11pm ET/8pm PT. The full lineup and schedule follows. Check out this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the each match up.
John Lineker vs. John Dodson
Round 1 – Dodson leads with a low leg kick. Lineker rips to the body. Another leg kick from Dodson. Lineker with a harder leg kick. Neither man has let their hands go two minutes in. Just kicks. Dodson rips two kicks to the body. Lineker trying to punch the body. Dodson missed with a punch and they both smile and touch gloves. Dodson with a big head kick! Lineker caught it on the way down and smiled again. Body kick and left hook lands for Lineker. Head kick for Lineker. Dodson caught a body kick but Lineker slithered away. Body kick from Dodson. Jumping knee/right hook for Lineker at the horn. 10-9 Dodson, but close.
Round 2 – Inside leg kick by Dodson. Body kick from Lineker. Lineker pressing with leaping left hooks, but they didn’t connect. Dodson with a quick combo. Sweet straight left from Dodson rocked Lineker’s head back. Lineker does a dance in the cage and Big John McCarthy is unamused. Lineker immediately scores with a right hook. Now rips him to the body and head. Same combo, but opposite hands. Dodson landed low at the same time though, and Lineker is in pain. He’s back fighting within two minutes though. Lineker fires the left hook and connects. Now Dodson ripped him back, and Lineker screamed. Lineker misses with the wild left hook. Dodson with a kick. Uppercut from Dodson. Lineker kicked out the back leg. Big combo for Lineker. Dodson scores with a head kick at the horn. 10-9 Lineker.
Round 3 – Lineker with a leg kick. Lineker is stalking Dodson but missing badly with his punches. WILD BRAWL TIME! Both men just dropped all pretense of defense and threw bombs for a good ten seconds. Each connected with a bunch, but their chins held up. That was awesome. And they’re doing it again. Dodson with a hard kick to the body. Lineker ripping to the body. Dodson jumped in with a combo. Lineker hurt him with a right! Lineker left to the body. Dodson’s still there, but he got staggered against the cage briefly. Head kick by Dodson, and Lineker just took it. Again. This man’s chin is insane. Lineker ripped him with a left hook again! Dodson firing back. Right hook by Lineker sends Dodson reeling back into the cage. This is a war and I love it. 10-9 Dodson.
Round 4 – Of course, they decide to duke it out again right away. Lineker clubbed Dodson with a right. Dodson fired back with a combo. Dodson waded into the pocket and ducked two Lineker shots to land his own. Dodson went for the takedown but Lineker stuffed it. Lineker still chasing. The Portland fans are booing for some reason. They’re crazy, this fight is great. Dodson with some hard knees in the clinch. Dodson with a huge left hook and ducks Lineker’s shots. Dodson is circling a lot and Lineker is literally running after him. Lineker stung Dodson to the body. Dodson with that head kick again. Left hook again for Lineker. Hard body kick from Dodson. Lineker’s eye is starting to swell. 10-9 Dodson.
Round 5 – Man hug to start the final stanza. Lineker swinging wildly. Body kick and left hook from Dodson. Leg kick from Lineker. Lineker has lost a little bit of steam finally. He did connect with a right hook though. Lineker’s eye is getting uglier. Straight right from Dodson. Dodson circles and scores with a stinging right hook. Lineker back to chasing. Dodson to the body. Lineker just spamming shots, and connects with a left hook! Dodson with his own. A right from Dodson staggers Lineker! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN. Dodson with an uppercut and a beautiful counter shot. Dodson with a takedown, and he’s on Lineker’s with Lineker standing. He just gets off with 30 seconds to go. Dodson with yet another right hook. Another head kick! Lineker going wild, ripping to the body. I have it 48-47 Dodson, but that was an epic war.
John Lineker defeated John Dodson by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Will Brooks vs. Alex Oliveira
Round 1 – They trade leg kicks. Oliveira ties Brooks up against the cage. He knees Brooks’ thighs and looks for a takedown. Lots of knees from both guys, but Brooks is still stuck with his back to the cage. Half the round has been spent here. Oliveira tried to throw him down, but no dice. Brooks finally spins away, locks up the legs, and gets his own takedown. Oliveira wasn’t down for long though, and they tie up against the cage again. Brooks with a body lock and looked for the TD, but Oliveira popped right back up. Hard knee to the belly from Brooks. This is the opposite of exciting so far. Elbows from Oliveira while Brooks looked for a takedown. Brooks got him to the floor but is caught in a guillotine. 10-9 Oliveira I guess.
Round 2 – Front kick gets through for Oliveira. Brooks with a single and gets a takedown into side. Immediate move to mount. Oliveira gave up his back and got to his feet, but has a human backpack attached to him. Brooks is looking to secure a choke while Oliveira carries his weight. He locks up a body triangle. Oliveira escaped and landed a knee to the body against the cage. Oliveira scoops him up and slams Brooks to the ground. Brooks is up immediately though. Oliveira lands some hard elbows. Brooks is back up with 1:15 to go. Back and forth round. Brooks gets around to the back with a body lock and slammed Oliveira down. He popped back up but Brooks climbs his back again. Oliveira threw him off after 20 seconds, but Brooks went right back against the fence for a takedown. 10-9 Brooks.
Round 3 – Brooks with a leg kick and a counter right drops Brooks. Could have been a slip, but certainly looked like a knockdown. Oliveira clinches up. They went to the ground for a few seconds, but it was a stalemate. Brooks appears to have an injured rib, which is making him wince. Knees from Oliveira. Cowboy with another takedown. Elbows from Oliveira. Cowboy pins and arm and opens up with strikes. He’s nailing Brooks and he can’t defend himself. Referee Herb Dean stops the bout.
Brooks gets up very angry at Oliveira showboating after the win, and throws his mouthpiece at him. Still, big upset.
Alex Oliveira defeats Will Brooks by TKO (strikes), 3:30 of round 3
Josh Burkman vs. Zak Ottow
Round 1 – Inside kick from Ottow. Leg kick and left hook from Burkman. Hard leg kick from Ottow. Counter right and another leg kick. Ottow looks good so far. A whole lot of kicks from both men. Ottow with a body kick that strayed a little low. TO THE CORNUTS CAM WE GO. Yes, we have confirmation that he kicked him in the stones. Burkman back to fighting after a minute. Right hook from Burkman. Ottow still kicking a lot. Both men are changing stances. Ottow with the winging right. Nice counter from Ottow, and a body kick. Burkman to the body. Ottow with a right and a hard elbow in close. He spun Burkman around with a hard outside leg kick. 10-9 Ottow.
Round 2 – Ottow with counter rights and leg kicks. Burkman firing back with leg and body kicks. Ottow really ripping the outside leg kick, and setting it up with jabs. Nice step-in knee from Burkman. Spinning back kick gets blocked. More leg kicks for both men. They’re coming up short with their hands though. Ottow with a hard jab and a high kick. Another nice combo, but Burkman scored with a counter right and a hard body kick. Close round, but I’ll lean 10-9 Ottow.
Round 3 – Right hook from Burkman. Ottow goes in for a takedown but couldn’t get anything. Low and high kick from Ottow. Both connect with right hooks. Straight left for Ottow. The pace has slowed a bit. Burkman with an overhand right. Ottow with his own right, and an outside leg kick. The crowd is restless. Good jab from Ottow. Burkman ties him up against the cage and throws some knees. He’s looking for a takedown, and eventually gets it with 1:15 to go. Burkman couldn’t do anything with it and Ottow popped up with 30 seconds to go. Burkman with a straight left. Ottow with a body kick and his own takedown. He took Burkman’s back and looked for a home run choke, but the horn went. 10-9 Burkman, but 29-28 Ottow in my eyes.
Zak Ottow defeats Josh Burkman by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Brandon Moreno vs. Louis Smolka
Round 1 – They exchange combinations right away. Moreno is fast. Hard body kick from Smolka and he looked for a guillotine. Moreno took him down and worked in Smolka’s open guard. Smolka throwing elbows from the bottom. Moreno with a right but Smolka is up. Moreno with a guillotine attempt! Smolka popped out but he’s right back in another one. He put him to sleep! Moreno with the HUGE upset!
Brandon Moreno defeated Louis Smolka via submission (guillotine choke), 2:23 of round 1
Joachim Christensen vs. Luis Henrique
Round 1 – Henrique with a hard leg kick. Big right and another kick. Christensen fired back and he’s clinching. Uppercut by Henrique. Yes, they’re calling him Da Silva. I’m going with what we used to call him. I’m different like that. Big combination and a body kick from Henrique. Christensen with a good jab. Henrique hurt him with a left and backed him up against the cage. Christensen went down, but Henrique wouldn’t oblige him on the ground. Jab and overhand right from Christensen. Henrique with his own right. They trade inside leg kicks. Nice elbow by the Danish fighter. Henrique pushed him back and cracked right with a right. Henrique with a high kick that got caught. 10-9 Henrique.
Round 2 – Christensen with a five-punch combo. Very nice. Winging right by Henrique. He rips to the body twice. Henrique with a beautiful spinning elbow. He got the Thai clinch and landed a couple of knees. Another spinning elbow. Christensen with a right hook. A big knee put Henrique down! Christensen all over him! Stacking him up and throwing punches, but Henrique is surviving. Henrique with good wrist control, and attempted a sweep. Christensen maintained position and dropped a big right. Christensen decides to grapple and passes to half. He gets pushed off by Henrique 40 seconds to go though, and he goes straight to mount. Big punches and Christensen gives up his back. Henrique takes his arm and gets the tap with a beautiful armbar.
Luis Henrique da Silva defeats Joachim Christensen by submission (armbar), round 2
Hacran Dias vs. Andre Fili
Round 1 – Fili looking to pressure right away. Dias with a front kick. Lots of movement. Fili cracked Dias with a left hook that wobbled him a bit. Another left from Fili. Dias scooped a leg but Fili easily escaped. Fili clipped him with a counter left hook and Dias is down! Fili is all over him but Dias is defending! Wow, that was very close to being over. Dias is up and grinding for a takedown now. He got it, and rode it out in side for a while to recover. Dias is bleeding. They’re back to the feet. Fili with another left hook. Dias just has no answer for it. Pretty much all Fili, surprisingly. 10-9 Fili.
Round 2 – Body kick from Fili. They trade punches. Dias sharper with his hands already. Dias ducked under and got a body lock. It took a few seconds, but he got Fili down against the cage in side. He chose to work in half instead, but got swept. They returned to the feet. Body kick from Fili. They trade inside leg kicks. Dias in on a takedown again. Fili used the whizzer to take top position himself. Dias spidered over his head and went for an armbar! That was sweet. Fili escaped though, and kicks Dias’ legs on the ground. Fili kicked him for a while until Dias deftly tripped him to get up. He scored with a combo. They trade hooks. Fili with a beautiful throw to close out the round. I’ll go 10-9 Dias but that could have gone either way.
Round 3 – They’re brawling to start round three! Both of them connected with hard shots. Dias has a takedown attempt swatted away. And another. Nice jab from Fili. Counter right from Dias. Dias got a body lock and just threw Fili to the mat. Hard. Big rights from Dias and Fili wants no more of that. Fili up briefly, but gets taken back down. Dias in side control and gets to knee on belly, but can’t mount. Dias just grinding away. Fili hits a reverse with 20 seconds to go. He landed a few elbows. I think I’m in the minority on this, but 10-9 and 29-28 Dias.
Andre Fili defeated Hacran Dias by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Walt Harris
Round 1 – A whole lot of staring to start. Abdurakhimov finally caught a kick and took him down. Harris spun away quickly though. Knee in the clinch from Harris and he stuffed a takedown attempt. Harris whiffing on his punches. He scored with another nice knee though. Abdurakhimov with a crisp combination. They both score with hooks at the same time. Abdurakhimov is cut behind the ear somehow. Delayed spinning back fist from Abdurakhimov. Tough to score. I’ll go 10-9 Harris.
Round 2 – A few leg kicks from each men. Abdurakhimov missed with a spinning back fist and fell down. Harris secured a front choke and squeezed. Abdurakhimov escaped and landed an uppercut on the break. More leg kicks from Abdurakhimov. Short punches from Abdurakhimov. There’s not a lot on his strikes but he’s connecting. Spinning back fist scores, spinning back kick does not. Harris really isn’t throwing much at all. Right as I say that, he scored with a counter left hook. Body kick from Harris. 10-9 Abdurakhimov.
Round 3 – More feinting. Abdurakhimov wades in with a right hook. Nice counter body shot from Abdurakhimov. They’re really not doing much of anything though. Jab from Harris. Abdurakhimov is just stepping in, throwing a right hook, and stepping out. Harris is doing even less. The crowd is getting on them now. Abdurakhimov clinches. Knee and an elbow from Harris. And a big knee on the exit. They trade knees. 10-9 and 29-28 Abdurakhimov.
Shamil Abdurakhimov defeats Walt Harris by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Keita Nakamura vs. Elizeu Zaleski
Round 1 – Head kick by Zaleski immediately. But Nakamura took him down. Zaleski got up after about a minute, but is still stuck against the fence. Nakamura sneaks around to his backand secures a hook. They’re working in a seated position against the cage. K-Taro is trying to soften him up with punches to secure the choke, but Zaleski is defending well. Zaleski got back to guard, but Nakamura landed a few strikes. K-Taro is all over him. Every time Zaleski thinks he can escape…well, he cannot. This goes on until there were 15 seconds left in the round. Finally Zaleski got up and clubbed him with three punches, staggering him. He pulled up on one right at the horn. 10-9 Nakamura though.
Round 2 – Zaleski with another big shot to start the round. Nakamura is backing off of the follow-ups though. Nakamura with a right hook. Zaleski just misses with a huge right hook. Hard step-in knee to K-Taro’s belly as he comes in for a takedown – but he still ended up on his back. K-Taro just smothered him for a few minutes, working a front headlock and trying to get to the back. Zaleski got up with 1:10 to go and scored to the body before a right hook found its mark. Huge combination from Zaleski but K-Taro took it. Somehow. 10-9 Zaleski.
Round 3 – Right hook for Zaleski. He stuffed a Nakamura takedown attempt. K-Taro with a head kick. Cup kick from Nakamura, but the action only stops for a few seconds. Body kicks from both men. Nakamura got a takedown halfway through the round. After a minute, aleski got up and hit a HUGE suplex! Zaleski locks up an arm triangle! K-Taro survives though. Zaleski worked from the back, then stepped over for a peruvian necktie attempt. K-Taro pops his head out again. He jumps to his feet and takes Zaleski’s back now! Back and forth, back and forth. Zaleski escapes and lands some big punches. I have it 10-9 and 29-28 Zaleski, but it could go either way.
Elizeu Zaleski defeats Keita Nakamura by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Nate Marquardt vs. Tamdan McCrory
Round 1 – High kick from McCrory. Marquardt mostly missing with punches thus far. McCrory goes low and high with kicks. Nate connects with a couple of low leg kicks. Marquardt with a takedown right into a guillotine. He popped his head out quickly. McCrory looking for something off of his back but Marquardt shut him down. McCrory got a leg over Nate’s back but can’t do anything with it. Now he’s looking for a triangle or armbar, but Marquardt defended well again. He’s not doing anything from the top though. McCrory looking for an armbar again. 10-9 McCrory for the work from his guard.
Round 2 – Low kick from McCrory. Barn Cat pressuring with a combo. Marquardt with a right. Nice combination from Nate that ended with a body kick. Jabs to the body and head for Marquardt. Outside leg kick from Nate. McCrory ducked a kick and scored with a combo. He tied Marquardt up against the cage, but got reversed and tripped to the ground. Once again, Nate is just laying on McCrory and not throwing any punches. McCrory isn’t as active from the bottom this time though. Finally they were stood up with 35 seconds left. Nate with a right hook that wobbled McCrory. Left ead kick and he’s down! Didn’t even have to follow up! It’s over.
Nate Marquardt defeated Tamdan McCrory by KO (head kick), 4:44 of round 2
Jonathan Wilson vs. Ion Cutelaba
Round 1 – Cutelaba lands some good shots on the inside and in the clinch. Hard knee to the body. He’s walking Wilson down. Wilson does fire back with a couple of hard lefts. Cutelaba stalking him, but Wilson grabs on briefly. Cutelaba with a hard right. Huge spinning elbow connects. Body shot. Nice combo in return from Wilson. Uppercut from Cutelaba. More combinations from both men. Spinning back fist just misses for Cutelaba. Hard leg kick from Cutelaba. Straight left and an outside leg kick from Wilson. 10-9 Cutelaba.
Round 2 – Cup check with the first kick of round two from Cutelaba. Let’s go to the Cornuts Cam – yup, right in the junk. Wilson is pretty hurt. He’s been down for a couple of minutes. He’s now back on his feet, but still taking the majority of the five minutes allowed. Herb Dean gave a stiff warning. Cutelaba pressuring on the restart. Wilson connected with a left. Inside leg kicks from Cutelaba that didn’t hit the cup. Left hook from Wilson. Spinning back fist and a spinning kick from Cutelaba. Hard left head kick from Wilson. Cutelaba with a big combination against the cage, but Wilson took it and fired back with a left hook. Cutelaba is relentless though. Knee to the body. More spinning attacks. Wilson with the straight left again. Cutelaba opens up against the cage again. They’re straight brawling here. Cutelaba took a shot and he’s backing off a bit now. Straight left from Wilson, and another. Good round. 10-9 Cutelaba.
Round 3 – Cutelaba has some blood coming out of his nose. Things aren’t as hectic to start this round. Wilson is walking down Cutelaba, but got wobbled by a counter right hook. Wilson caught Cutelaba leaning into a head kick. Cutelaba comes back with a nice combo. Low kick from Wilson, and another. Cutelaba looked like he poked Wilson in the eye and he’s all over him now. Wilson weathers the storm nicely though. Cutelaba with a right hook. Wilson goes back to the leg kicks. Cutelaba bringing the pressure now, but gets clubbed with a left hook that he partially blocked. Not as much action down the stretch. Cutelaba is literally chasing Wilson around the cage. 10-9 Wilson, but 29-28 Cutelaba.
Ion Cutelaba defeated Jonathan Wilson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Cody East vs. Curtis Blaydes
Round 1 – Blaydes with a right, and looked for a takedown. Nothing there. They trade leg kicks. Blaydes with a big takedown but East used his momentum to roll through and get up. Another takedown. Blaydes is sneaking a few rights through while East tries to tie him up against the cage. Blaydes moves to side but doesn’t have much room to operate. Short elbows. East got up halfway through the round and connected with a big shot that hurt Blaydes. But Blaydes got a takedown right into mount. Big shots, but East escapes and briefly gets his own takedown. Big burst of action there. Knees in the clinch from Blaydes. He drags East to the floor. Blaydes was in side and working, but they got stood up anyway. Too quick there. Blaydes with a kick but ate a counter right. Bungalows from East. Blaydes hurts him with a shot, but East gets the takedown at the horn. 10-9 Blaydes.
Round 2 – Big straight right from Blaydes. And another. A third wobbled East, and Blaydes scooped him up for a big double leg takedown. Blaydes grinded against the fence with short elbows. A small cut is opened on East’s forehead. East is eating massive elbows in a turtled up position now. More and more. East isn’t defending. The ref jumps in and stops it.
Curtis Blaydes defeats Cody East by TKO (elbows), 2:02 of round 2
Kelly Faszholz vs. Ketlen Vieira
Round 1 – Vieira with a quick right. Lots of feinting. Vieira is walking her down. Faszholz with a couple of slow kicks and Vieira clinches up. Nice straight right by Faszholz on the break. Leg kick from Vieira. Single shots from both, not much urgency. Faszholz got nailed with a right as she spun around after missing a kick. Faszholz bullrushes Vieira looking for a takedown but settles for some knees in the clinch. Vieira hit a beautiful judo throw to take top position. Faszholz pretty much locked her down. They were there for a while, but Vieira got nowhere. Finally Vieira opened up with a few lefts. 10-9 Vieira.
Round 2 – Faszholz with a leg kick. Vieira caught a kick and took her opponent down. Vieira stood up and tried to pass that way, but couldn’t get anywhere. None of her pass attempts worked, but she’s still been on top for three minutes. Finally the red stood them up. They exchange rights. Vieira with a combo. Vieira caught another kick and put Faszholz on her back again. Faszholz got back up, but couldn’t get anything going before the horn. 10-9 Vieira again.
Round 3 – They exchange rights. Nice right from Faszholz, and a left. She’s pressuring now at least. Vieira looks a little gassed. Right/striaght left. More rights. Vieira is taking them, but she’s retreating. Another combination and Faszholz clinches up. Two knees to the body and she heeds her corner adbice and backs off. More rights. Vieira clinches up. They separate and the pace slows. Faszholz lands two knees in the clinch but got judo thrown onto her back. Vieira has her back with one hook. Faszholz rolled over and got her back against the cage. Vieira just held on to the horn. 10-9 Faszholz, but 29-28 Vieira.
Ketlen Vieira defeated Kelly Faszholz by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
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