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Former ONE world champion John Lineker recently opened up about his brief stints in both kickboxing and the art of eight limbs.
After dominating mixed martial arts for years and capturing the ONE bantamweight MMA world title, 'Hands of Stone' decided to test out his iconic knockout power in two new sports.
Needless to say, the results exceeded everyone's expectations.
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Lineker earned back-to-back wins in Muay Thai, scoring highlight-reel KOs against Asa Ten Pow and Alexey Balyko. Even more impressive is that the victories came a mere month apart.
Lineker also went a full five rounds with former ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Hiroki Akimoto in March, and nearly walked away with his first win in eight-ounce gloves.
Looking back on his journey into two new sports, Lineker told ONE Championship:
“At first, it was to keep myself active and also to be able to earn some extra money. But it was also good because I was able to test myself, and I believe I did very well.”
John Lineker has his sights set on a trilogy fight with Fabricio Andrade—and nobody else
Though John Lineker was more than capable of holding his own against some of the toughest Muay Thai fighters and kickboxers in the world, 'Hands of Stone' knows that his world is MMA, and he still has some unfinished business in his sport of choice.
Outside of a ridiculously short-notice scrap with Shinya Aoki, John Lineker is coming off back-to-back wins in the bantamweight MMA division, defeating top-five contenders Kim Jae Woong and Stephen Loman.
With the wins, Lineker believes he's more than earned an opportunity to fight Fabricio Andrade—the man who took his ONE bantamweight MMA world title in 2023. He said:
"I actually have no interest in fighting any other athlete because the fight that makes sense now is against Fabricio Andrade".
Lineker and Andrade have fought twice before, the first at ONE on Prime Video 3, ending via no-contest following an accidental low blow in the third round. Four months later, they'd run it back with Andrade landing a fourth-round TKO to claim the ONE bantamweight MMA crown.
It is time for Andrade vs. Lineker 3, or does 'Hands of Stone' have a little more work to do in his division before bagging a trilogy fight with his fellow Brazilian?
