UFC Fight Night 96's John Dodson claims UFC bantamweights are ducking him

PORTLAND, Ore. – After knocking out Manny Gamburyan in 37 seconds, UFC bantamweight John Dodson thought he’d be back in business pretty quick.

He was unhurt, and he had a highlight-reel win under his belt. Not a bad boost for a former flyweight title challenger trying to reinvent himself at 135 pounds.

Months passed, though, and nothing happened. There were proposals, and plenty of them, he told MMAjunkie. But there was a reoccurring message he got from would-be opponents.

“Everyone could only tell me one thing: ‘Oh, we don’t think it’s the right matchup,'” he said. “(In) fighter terms, that means, ‘I don’t want to fight you.'”

Dodson didn’t expect an easy road. He expected two failed bids for the flyweight belt to hold back his career. But he didn’t expect to sit out half of the year.

Thankfully, one fighter eventually said yes, and that brings Dodson (18-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) to his latest challenge. On Saturday, at UFC Fight Night 96, he meets the heavy-handed John Lineker (28-7 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the FS1-televised headliner at Moda Center in Portland, Ore.

Lineker stands at No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, and the unranked Dodson gets the opportunity to punch his way onto the list of possible contenders.

“If everybody doesn’t want to fight me, that’s understandable,” he said. “I’m glad Lineker did, because now, I’m going to show everybody again why they don’t want to fight me.”

A lot of pundits call the headliner a matchup of “speed” versus “power,” but Dodson said he’s got more than one side covered.

“We already know how it’s going to go,” he said. “I have both speed and power, so I think they’re just saying it’s John Dodson versus himself.

“If no one really knows, speed generates power, and I have both. I’ve got that speed, and I can hit him with a collision course of a freight train. And if it’s not going to be a train, I’ll be a shuttle, a rocket, a nuclear bomb – just me ready to set off.”

To hear more from Dodson, check out the video above.

For more on UFC Fight Night 96, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.