UFC Fight Night 56 gets it’s second fight, this time it’s between two top flyweights in John ‘Hands of Stone’ Lineker vs. Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall.
UFC officials confirmed the bout Thursday.
Lineker (24-7) is 5-2 since joining the UFC in late 2012. Following an unsuccessful debut against Louis Gaudinot, Lineker fought his way to a four fight win streak after the unsuccessful debut. After the four fight win streak which included three (T)KO finishes, Lineker lost to Ali Bagautinov in Newark, New Jersey in what could have been his chance to earn a shot at flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson. He rebounded from the loss with a dominant victory over Alptekin Ozkilic in which he would finish the fight by (T)KO in the third round. This was very arguably his best performance since joining the UFC and would earn him and Ozkilic a Fight of the Night bonus. Lineker’s struggle to make the 125 lb weight limit have been very clear, as he has missed weight in three of his seven UFC fights. He’s been on point in his last two, so if he can keep it up and continue winning he could very well be fighting the title in 2015.
McCall (13-4-1) is a former Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion. He entered into the UFC in their introductory flyweight mini-tournament in Sydney Australia. Ian McCall, Demetrious Johnson, Joseph Benavidez and Yasuhiro Urushitani would all fight on this night. McCall vs. Johnson, and Benavidez vs. Urushiani. The winner of these two fights would be paired up to determine the first UFC flyweight champ. Johnson was originally ruled the winner until it was later discovered that the fight was actually scored a draw, but got messed up by the judges. In the insance of a chair in the tournament the fight was supposed to go to a fourth round. The two would later rematch and be the first flyweights to headline a UFC event. Johnson won more clearly this time around. Johnson would beat Benavidez for the title, and Benavidez would fight Ian McCall at UFC 156. McCall dropped yet another decision. Sicne then he has won two in a row. A Fight of the Night performance against Iliarde Santos, and another decision win over Brad Pickett in Dublin, Ireland.
This bouts placement on the card is not confirmed at this time, but it’s more than likely that it will be on the main card.
UFC Fight Night 56 is expected to take place on November 8 in Brazil.
