UFC 96 Fight Night excites

After a seven-year hiatus, the Ultimate Fighting Championship series returned to Portland on Oct. 1, for UFC Fight Night 96.

The event was at the Moda Center, and aired live worldwide on Fox Sports 1 and drew an announced 6,240 fans. While that’s a far cry from the last time the UFC came to town for (the top-tier) UFC 102, which featured former champion and Portland native Randy Couture and drew more than 16,000 fans, it was still a night of exciting fights.

While Fight Night 96 featured plenty of top-ten ranked fighters, it was noticeably absent of any top UFC names. Oddly enough, it also was  missing Oregon’s own mixed martial arts talent. For one, surging light heavyweight and UFC veteran and Rose City native Ed “Short Fuse” Herman would have been an appropriate fit for a fight card lacking in name recognition. There’s also a plethora of Oregon talent not currently under contract with the UFC that could have populated the undercard of the event. Salem native Pat Healy, former UFC lightweight and Strikeforce world title challenger, is an obvious option.

Regional promotions in the area could also have provided more local talent. Oregon and Northern California-based Rouge Fights MMA and Midtown Throwdown out of Lincoln City both have packed rosters, with fighters that may have drawn more fans interested in locals  battling on the biggest stage in combat sports.

Despite the lack of local talent and name recognition, the Fight Night 96 fights still delivered a lot of entertainment. Fans and media outlets alike maintained high expectations for the main event. Everyone expected John Lineker and John Dodson to deliver a memorable top-billing scrap, and they didn’t disappoint.

Over the course of five five-minute rounds, the two bantamweights reminded the audience why the hype was well deserved. For much of the 25-minute contest, Dodson worked his kick boxing on the outside, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he circled the cage.  That forced Lineker to trudge forward and stalk Dodson with looping power hooks.

Although both men landed several power punches throughout the fight, Dodson’s game plan gave the appearance that he was “running” or reluctant to engage. In the end that may have been what cost him the fight. Two of the three cageside judges saw the fight go to Lineker, likely based on his aggression, awarding a split-decision victory.

The night didn’t end without controversy. In the co-main event, Alex Oliveira managed to overshadow his third-round technical knockout of Will Brooks by taunting his injured opponent after the fight was stopped by the referee. Yes, Oliveira landed several brutal knees to the body, breaking Brook’s rib before knocking out Brooks in the third round. However, he did so after missing the weight limit for their fight by more than 5 pounds. So, when Oliveira jumped up after the stoppage and taunted Brooks, it didn’t go over well with Brooks or the fans who rained down a torrent of boos until he left the cage.

All told, UFC Fight Night 96 had 12 total fights, with three fights ending by knockout and two by submission.

While the biggest UFC names were noticeably absent, the event still brought a lot of combat sports talent to the area for the first time in nearly a decade. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait as long again for the UFC to return.