TONY FERGUSON MOVED a step closer to a title shot last night but ‘El Cucuy’ didn’t have it all his own way against UFC debutant Lando Vannata.
The pair earned ‘Fight of the Night’ honours for their co-headliner at UFC Fight Night 91, which took place at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Ferguson had been due to face Michael Chiesa in the main event, but when an injury forced Chiesa to withdraw a fortnight ago, undefeated Vannata was called up as a short-notice replacement.
Taking on one of the UFC’s top lightweights, the odds were stacked against Vannata. However, the Jackson-Wink product gave a brilliant account of himself and showed that he too could have a promising future at the highest level.
Vannata had the better of the striking exchanges early on and was close to stopping Ferguson after dropping him with a jab. However, the former TUF winner recovered well and forced Vannata to tap to a D’Arce choke after 2:22 of the second round, taking his record to 21-3. Vannata’s first loss leaves him at 8-1 but the $50,000 bonus will cushion the blow.
Afterwards, Ferguson — who’s ranked third in the 155lbs division behind Khabib Nurmagomedov and Rafael dos Anjos after picking up his eighth win on the trot — called for a title shot against newly-crowned lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who expressed his interest in a meeting with featherweight champion Conor McGregor last week.
“These guys don’t want to fight me but they have no choice when I’m right there next to them,” Ferguson said. “We’ll see who’s next. Give me that title shot. Eddie Alvarez, I know you don’t want to fight me. If you want an easy fight, go ahead and get Conor, but I’m right here at your front doorstep and I’m ready to sign on the dotted line.”
After the meeting of Ferguson and Vannata had been demoted from top spot on last night’s card, the bantamweight bout between Michael McDonald and John Lineker was bumped up. However, Lineker ensured that it lasted only half a round as he sealed his third win in a row since returning to 135lbs.
The Brazilian defied his significant height and reach disadvantage by overwhelming McDonald on the feet and forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the bout due to strikes after 2:43 of the opening frame.
Lineker, who’s now 28-7 and has won five in a row since a decision defeat to former flyweight title challenger Ali Bagautinov in February 2014, called out his division’s reigning champion following his win: “Dominick Cruz, I’m coming for you, baby!”
Lineker was awarded a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus, as was Louis Smolka. Fighting for the first time since his submission of Paddy Holohan in last October’s UFC Dublin main event, Smolka stopped Ben Nguyen with a second-round TKO — a win which should nudge the 12th-ranked flyweight further up the pecking order.
UFC Fight Night 91
- John Lineker def. Michael McDonald via KO (punches) after 2:43 of round one
- Tony Ferguson def. Lando Vannata via submission (D’Arce choke) after 2:22 of round two
- Tim Boetsch def. Josh Samman via TKO (punches) via 3:49 of round two
- Daniel Omielańczuk def. Oleksiy Oliynyk via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Keita Nakamura def. Kyle Noke via submission (rear-naked choke) after 4:59 of round two
- Louis Smolka def. Ben Nguyen via TKO (punches and elbows) after 4:41 of round two
- Katlyn Chookagian def. Lauren Murphy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sam Alvey def. Eric Spicely via submission (guillotine choke) after 2:43 of round one
- Cortney Casey def. Cristina Stanciu via TKO (elbows) after 2:36 of round one
- Scott Holtzman def. Cody Pfister via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Rani Yahya def. Matthew Lopez via submission (arm-triangle choke) after 4:19 of round three
- Alex Nicholson def. Devin Clark via KO (punches) after 4:57 of round one
