Preview: UFC Fight Night 119 ‘Brunson vs. Machida’

Bantamweight

John Lineker (29-8) vs. Marlon Vera (10-3-1)

ODDS: Lineker (-550), Vera (+425)

ANALYSIS: All good things must come to an end, and Vera’s breakout three-fight winning streak is likely to be snapped here. The silver lining is that his unbeaten run will likely come to a conclusion courtesy of the returning Lineker -- violence fans, rejoice -- after former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw broke his jaw at UFC 207 in December. Hard as it seems to believe sometimes, “Hands of Stone” still has a face made of bone like the rest of us.

The 27-year-old Lineker is far from a perfect fighter, but there is a reason he has gone 5-1 as a bantamweight in the UFC and why it took a fighter like Dillashaw to hang a loss on him. It is almost unfair to have a fighter with Lineker’s fistic abilities and his figurative chin. Lineker lands 5.01 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 4.05, yet his defense seldom seems like a problem in the midst of his legendary, body-head banging, chain-gun combinations.

Even a truly vicious puncher like Francisco Rivera could not slow Lineker once he started firing with both hands, his best Sunday punches just bouncing off the Brazilian’s head, unable to abate the attack. Lineker has 10 knockdowns in the Octagon; one against Vera would tie him for ninth all-time with Jake Ellenberger and Nate Marquardt, while a pair of knockdowns would pull him even with Junior dos Santos and Conor McGregor with 12. At the same time, Lineker has never even come close to hitting the deck in the UFC, despite the way he fights and the men he has allowed to punch him in the face.

Vera, 24, has looked more impressive each time out over the last 11 months, from his win over Guangyou Ning and his come-from-behind spoiling of Brad Pickett’s retirement to his “Submission of the Year” candidate against Brian Kelleher in July. “Chito” has become much better at using his footwork to avoid and set up ranged strikes since beginning to train under Colin Oyama; and obviously, he has some sneaky skills on the floor. However, despite five inches of height and a modest two inches of reach, he is nowhere near the physical specimen, the out-of-control turbine, that Lineker is. Lineker is not going to inside trip his way into an armbar while caught in a standing kimura like Kelleher did. He is not a shopworn Pickett, who is going to duck into a late head kick, and even if he did, it would just harmlessly ricochet off his dome.

All the footwork in the world cannot save Vera here. Side-to-side and circular movement represent half of John Dodson’s entire standup game, and for 25 minutes, Lineker used his own fantastic, underrated footwork to track him down, trap him along the fence and rip him to the head and body. “Chito” is no “Magician.” In this one, Lineker traps Vera against the cage and stings him with a few salvos of punches, and we are off to the races. “Hands of Stone” puts the touch of death on Vera in the first eight minutes of the contest; and if Lineker cannot find a finish, he could be rocketing up that all-time knockdown list.

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