Who were the winners at UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs Lineker? Click below to get the results for all the fights at Denny Sanford Premier Center on Wednesday, July 13, 2016.
McDonald vs Lineker | Ferguson vs Vannata | Boetsch vs Samman | Oleinik vs Omielanczuk | Noke vs Nakamura | Smolka vs Nguyen | Murphy vs Chookagian | Spicely vs Alvey | Casey vs Stanciu | Holtzman vs Pfister | Yahya vs Lopez | Clark vs Nicholson
UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs Lineker main card
Main event Bantamweight bout: John Lineker defeats Michael McDonald
Lineker comes out swinging and wins by TKO in the 1st round! Lineker officially earned two knockdowns tonight and has a total of 10 for his UFC career. Only 16 fighter in UFC history have landed 10 or more knockdowns and he's the first to have done it entirely at 135 lbs. or lighter.
They said it:
John Lineker: “I came here to please the crowd and that’s what I am happy to do. Dominick Cruz, I’m coming for you baby!”
More from Fight Night Sioux Falls: Results | Lineker drops McDonald in main event | Ferguson survives scare, Boetsch wins | Chookagian wins debut, Alvey makes mark | Nicholson, Yahya take different paths to win | Backstage interviews: John Lineker, Tony Ferguson, Tim Boetsch, Courtney Casey, Sam Alvey | Octagon interviews: John Lineker, Tony Ferguson, Rani Yahya | FIGHT PASS members: Watch early fights on-demand
Co-main: Tony Ferguson defeats Lando Vannata
WHAT A FIGHT! Vannata, making his UFC debut after taking fight two weeks ago, had an amazing performance in the first round and almost knocked out No. 3 lightweight Ferguson a number of times. Ferguson fought back in the second though and caught Vannata with a D’arce choke to get the victory.
They said it:
Tony Ferguson: “I thought that fight was amazing. We gave the crowd what they wanted. I knew Lando would come out swinging, so I gave him exactly what he wanted. Jackson-Wink has a lot of experience preparing for me, so I knew he was going to come prepared to fight tonight. Lando showed up and I want to thank him for doing that. I’m always down for a title contention fight. Eddie Alvarez, he’s the new champ, him or RDA would be great. The top-three in the world better be on the lookout for me and I want to thank Lando Vannata one more time for stepping up tonight.”
Tim Boetsch defeats Josh Samman
Boetsch wins by TKO in the second round
They said it:
Tim Boetsch: “It was very important for me to go out and get the win tonight; I wanted a job tomorrow morning. I did exactly what I had to do to win this fight. I thought Josh would use his distance a little better and not initiate the clinch so much, but I was happy that he did because it was only a matter of time until I got the position I wanted. It felt good to execute my game plan and let things go the way I wanted them to and get back in the win column.”
Josh Samman: “It’s right after the fight so it’s hard to gauge what went wrong until after I see the fight. I knew this fight was going to be a tough one after my last loss to Tamdan McCrory. This is the UFC, there’s no such thing as an easy fight but I thought this one was going to be easy and I was going to go in there and knock him out. I hit him hard a couple times, but wasn’t able to put him away. I’ll have to go back and look at the film.”
Daniel Omielanczuk defeats Aleksei Oleinik
The big heavyweights went the distance, with the judges giving the win to Omielanczuk by majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
They said it:
Daniel Omielanczuk: “MMA is quite popular already in Poland and it is growing fast. Poland has a lot of good fighters. Joanna Jedrzejczyk is from Poland and she’s a UFC champion. There are plenty of guys on their way up who will surely be in the UFC soon. I work for the UFC, when they call it is my job to fight and I will be ready when I get that call next.”
Keita Nakamura defeats Kyle Noke
What a finish! Nakamura knocked down Noke late in the second round and put him in a rear naked choke to get a submission victory with just 1 second left in the round.
They said it:
Keita Nakamura: “This was the most important win of my career because I was afraid to get back to back losses and have my back up against the wall, I’ve never lost two fights in a row in my career. The fight went just as I expected. Next, I’d like to fight whoever wants to fight me.”
Louis Smolka defeats Ben Nguyen
What a performance from Smolka – and what heart from Nguyen! Smolka dominated from the start of the fight, taking his opponent to the floor and proceeding to inflict heavy damage via ground-and-pound. But Nguyen defended enough to take it to a second round. Smolka dominated again, trying multiple submission attempts before once again getting in dominant position on the ground before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight for a TKO win for Smolka. Of note in the bout, Smolka officially committed to seven submission attempts tonight, setting a new single-fight flyweight record. He was previously tied for the record with his five attempts at UFC 189. Overall, his seven attempts tonight are tied for 5th most ever in a UFC fight.
They said it:
Louis Smolka: “I was surprised that Ben was able to hit me from as far away as he did. He was able to parry my punches pretty easily and that caught me off guard a little. He’s a tough opponent and I’m ready for a big step up. Demetrious Johnson getting injured was one of the last things I saw while I was still online before the fight. As soon as I saw it I asked my manager, Jason House, for that fight because I want an interim shot. I’m young, I turn 25 in a couple days, I have a baby now so I’m doing whatever I can to earn a title shot.”
UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs Lineker FS1 prelims
Katlyn Chookagian defeats Lauren Murphy
The featured prelim bout was a back-and-forth affair. Chookagian came out strong in her UFC debut, winning the first round, but Murphy fought back in a strong manner with a commanding second round. Nobody could finish the job in the third and final round, but Chookagian did enough in the eyes of the judges to win on the scorecards (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
They said it:
Katlyn Chookagian: “Everyone from my team has been so supportive, we’re like a big family. Frankie Edgar has been helping me since before I even knew I could turn this into a career. I remember I fought on a small amateur card in the middle of a baseball field, Frankie had a fight coming up too and he still took the time to help me get ready. All of those guys, Frankie, Eddie Alvarez, Edson Barboza they’re like role models to me and they motivate me so much. I train with the best every day, so fighting the best in the women’s division isn’t a surprise to me. I’d rather fight the best right away so nothing comes as a surprise to me. I’m just going to keep fighting. I really want a flyweight division, but until then, I’m here to stay at 135.”
Sam Alvey defeats Eric Spicely
Smilin’ Sam Alvey wins via standing guillotine in the 1st Round
They said it:
Sam Alvey: “The UFC has blessed me. They helped me out when I broke my jaw, they gave me other jobs to do while I was recovering to make some money, the UFC is good. I took this fight on three weeks’ notice and it worked out well against a great opponent in Eric Spicely. The fight was fantastic, I wanted a first round knockout, but go the submission – I’m sure I ruined some parlays with that one. My wife is giving birth in 10 days, she’s here with me tonight and in my corner, I couldn’t do any of this without her. After a win like that I expect a Vice President nomination, I’m willing to listen to both parties. My other prediction is that Dan Henderson knocks out Michael Bisping again and then goes on the longest title run in UFC history. When Dan reaches the ripe old age of 60, he’ll meet me and I’ll defend him. Until then, I’d really like to fight Oluwale Bamgbose or anyone on a card in Europe.”
Eric Spicely: “I did hurt my leg early in the round. I had some knee and ankle problems heading into the fight, but I fought through them. Alvey’s game plan was just like I thought, he just backs up and waits. I definitely didn’t think he’d submit me, but I left my neck open and he got me.”
Cortney Casey defeats Cristina Stanciu
Casey scored a couple of takedowns in the first round and then pounced with some hard elbows that Stanciu couldn’t do anything with outside of covering up leading to a first round TKO win
They said it:
Cortney Casey: “I feel great, really good. I’m just happy it was a first rounder and not a three round war. She’s a younger fighter and sometimes you have to let them know that experience is about to takeover. She has a couple pro fights, but I’m well-rounded. I’m not afraid to throw elbows, I’m not afraid to throw knees and they were open, so I threw them. Carla Esparza has two of the most boring fights in UFC history. All of her fights, other than the title fight with Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) are incredibly boring. I want to go put on a show with her.”
Cristina Stanciu: “I didn’t get the outcome I was looking for, but this week it was nice to meet new people. I got time to train and acclimate to the time difference and to discover that people in the United States are really nice.”
Scott Holtzman defeats Cody Pfister
The fight goes the full 15-minute distance, with the judges giving the nod to Holtzman by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
They said it:
Scott Holtzman: “I’m still young in my career. I’m only 9-1 in my career and that’s a baby in this sport. I need to keep building and make improvements, tonight showed that. I need to go back to the drawing board and get better. I just need to have a little more composure out there, my accuracy was off and I need to be able to get in there and finish fights.”
UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs Lineker FIGHT PASS prelims
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Rani Yahya defeats Matthew Lopez
Yahya wins via arm triangle at 4:19 of the 3rd round
They said it:
Rani Yahya: “I feel tired, but I feel great! This is the best feeling in the world. Matthew is very tough and very strong; I think he will cause problems for a lot of people in this division. He defended a lot of submission attempts, but at the end I could feel he was tired and I knew it was a great opportunity to go for the finish. I want to fight in Brasilia, I didn’t get hurt tonight and it’s my hometown. To hear that I tied Renan Barao for second most submission victories in UFC/WEC history means a lot to me. I look to my grappling and my jiu jitsu a lot. Jiu jitsu is my life and this means a lot to me.”
Matthew Lopez: “For lack of a better word, my performance tonight was s---. Rani fought awesome, he turned a great performance tonight, so I’m not trying to take anything away from him, but that was just terrible on my part.”
Alex Nicholson defeats Devin Clark
What a start to Fight Night! Alex Nicholson survived an early knockdown and with just seconds in the first round he threw a right jab that dropped Devin Clark to earn the KO victory.
They said it:
Alex Nicholson: “I feel great. This is surreal, my family is here, my friends are here and my hometown was watching at home in Apopka. Nothing is better than this, I doubled my pay, this is a great day. I heard the :10 seconds and I was looking at him and he wasn’t doing anything, I didn’t start fighting until I heard that :10 seconds warning and I thought ‘No one is going to knock me out in :10 seconds’ so I just went for it. That last 10 seconds was me. I’d love to fight Misha Cirkunov again. I don’t know if the UFC wants me to go up a weight class, but now that my jaw is healthy, I’d love to fight him again. I’d also like to fight Michael Bisping, I don’t like the way he calls my fights, so how about a title shot? I’m just kidding, but I’d fight whoever the UFC gives me, but I’d like someone in the top-15 and I’d like my fiancée to fight up here in the big show with me.”
Devin Clark: “I want to thank everyone for the support, I’m sorry I couldn’t get the win. I needed this loss, I haven’t lost in a really long time and now I can go back and learn from it and come back stronger.”
