UFC Fight Night Portland results: John Lineker scores a split decision win over John Dodson in an instant classic

UFC returned to Portland last night and brought in a cracker of a main-event to headline the card where surging bantamweights John Lineker and John Dodson collided in a surefire contender for the 'Fight of the Year' honors. Following a 5-round war, Lineker walked away with a contested split decision over Dodson, who seemingly landed more but couldn't put the tough Brazilian away.

'Hands of Stone' Lineker for his part, was the one putting on the pressure moving forward on the fleet-footed Dodson, but did take a few shots to the head for his efforts. Mostly unfazed, Lineker who missed the 135 lbs weight limit for this fight, dug deep into the body of Dodson every time he managed to corner him into the cage, with some solid left hooks. 'The Magician' looked great in this fight, employing a 'stick & move' approach successfully staying away from the power shots of his opponent while mounting offense of his own.

In the co-main, Alex 'Cowboy' Oliviera caused a major upset when he finished former Bellator Lightweight champion Will Brooks in the third round via TKO. Brooks sustained a rib injury in the fight, seemingly in the first round, during the scramble for takedowns which clearly compromised him heading into the final round. 'Cowboy' capitalised on it taking Brooks down and trapping his arm to land unanswered punches forcing ref Herb Dean to stop the fight. Following the fight, there was quite a bit of drama as Oliviera proceeded to do a crotch-chop on the fallen Brooks, who threw his mouthpiece at him in response.

The main card saw two UFC debuts and it turned out to be a good one for both as Brandon Moreno and Zak Ottow scored surprise wins over Louis Smolka and Josh Burkman respectively. .Moreno caused probably the biggest upset of the night as Smolka's win streak was halted out of nowhere.

The full results from UFC Portland is below:

Main card 

• John Lineker def. John Dodson via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
• Alex Oliveira def. Will Brooks via technical knockout (Round 3, 3:30)
• Zak Ottow def. Josh Burkman via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) 
• Brandon Moreno def. Louis Smolka via submission (guillotine choke) (Round 1, 2:23)

Fox Sports 2 prelims

• Luis Henrique da Silva def. Joachim Christensen via submission (arm bar) (Round 2, 4:43)
• Andre Fili def. Hacran Dias via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Shamil Abdurakhimov def. Walt Harris via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Keita Nakamura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Fight Pass prelims

• Nate Marquardt def. Tamdan McCrory via knockout (Round 2, 4:44)
• Ion Cutelaba def. Jonathan Wilson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 
• Curtis Blaydes def. Cody East via technical knockout (Round 2, 2:02)
• Ketlen Viera def. Kelly Faszholz via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)