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The main event of ONE Championship: Bad Blood was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. Though it was a massive letdown, the fight was not canceled altogether.
Just recently, ONE announced that the much-awaited grudge match between Bibiano 'The Flash' Fernandes and John 'Hands of Stone' Lineker has a new date. It is now set to be the co-main event of ONE Championship: Lights Out on March 11.
Finally, the two will lock horns inside the cage.
This bout between bitter rivals is more than just a fight for the belt. It's a fight for pride. It's a conflict rooted in real animosity. A fight that's the culmination of months and months of heated exchanges between hardened warriors. On March 11, a massive tidal wave will break as the highly anticipated clash finally happens in the cage.
Both the champion and the challenger are bringing something to the fight that no one else in the division can. Fernandes has fight I.Q., championship experience and jiu-jitsu mastery, while Lineker has, well, the power to knock out an elephant.
The two heated rivals hate each other's guts and will do everything they can to impose their will and win the bout before the final horn.
With the bantamweight throne up for grabs, however, hate and pride are not enough to get the job done. Today we put on our analyst hats and figure out what the keys to victory are for the co-main event title bout at ONE: Lights Out.
#5. Control the center of the ONE Championship Circle
This bout can boil down to who can take the center of the cage and push forward.
Lineker has an aggressive, marauding style, where he plods forward and fires punches from the hip with full power. It's hard to do this, however, if he's walking backwards or his back is pressed up against the cage.
'Hands of Stone' needs to immediately take the center of the Circle and push the champion on his backpedal.
As for ONE Championship bantamweight king Fernandes, he needs to do exactly the same. He needs to force Lineker out of his comfort zone and get him to walk backwards. Power punchers have had a hard time pulling the trigger when they're being pressured. A perfect example is former UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
Easier said than done, however. Fernandes needs to dig deep into his bag of tricks to get Lineker just the slight bit concerned to put a halt to his forward momentum. The best way to do that is to take the center of the cage immediately.
#4. Mix up their attacks
If a warrior brings just one weapon to a fight, his opponent will only have to worry about that one weapon. As it stands, both Fernandes and Lineker have obvious weapons of choice for victory: Fernandes' jiu-jitsu and Lineker's punching power.
For Lineker, who is best known for his cinderblocks for hands, he doesn't need to overly rely on them during the fight. As that old boxing adage goes, you don't get the knockout by looking for the knockout.
Lineker needs to mix things up, use leg kicks, body attacks and perhaps a bit of clinch strikes to help him set up his power punches.
Fernandes, on his end, needs to find ways to make Lineker respect his striking. He needs to use his hands to blind Lineker from his takedown entries.
The ONE Championship bantamweight king is already developing a strong boxing game. If he can make Lineker think more about his hands than his grappling, it would create opportunities for the latter.
With that said, he needs to mix up his striking with feints and takedown attempts. Historically, Lineker lost to T.J. Dillashaw because the former UFC bantamweight champion used the same strategy.
3. For Fernandes: Take the fight into deep waters
One thing that's almost always true about people with innate punching power is that they are most dangerous at the beginning of the fight.
As the fight continues, fatigue can settle in and the threat of a knockout becomes less and less apparent. Though there are some outliers like Derrick Lewis who can carry his KO power into the final round, he is more of an exception than the norm.
With that said, Fernandes has to make this a long, grueling and ugly fight.
The ONE Championship bantamweight king has to smother Lineker on the clinch and on the ground constantly. He has to overload the challenger's muscles and get him fatigued enough so the knockout will be less likely in the latter rounds. That's where Fernandes can drown Lineker.
#2. For Lineker: Attack early and often
Conversely, Lineker has to do the exact opposite: attack swiftly and often to end the fight as early as possible.
'Hands of Stone' has to overwhelm the ONE Championship bantamweight kingpin as early as he can. Press forward right away and attack with a frenetic pace. Set up his power punches early so he could disrupt Fernandes' rhythm and open him up for the killshot.
As we said, power punchers are the most dangerous in the early parts of the fight. This doesn't mean, however, that the ONE Championship bantamweight comes out swinging with no regard. He still has to mix up his attacks and set up his knockout blows. He just needs to do them early and often.
#1. Don't let their emotions get the better of them
Though this is more of an intangible aspect of the game, we believe that it's most important in this grudge match.
All of the keys to victory mentioned here wouldn't mean a thing if both fighters couldn't keep a cool head. Fighting with too much emotion involved would cloud one's judgment and disrupt his concentration.
We've seen how Conor McGregor riled up his arch-rival Jose Aldo in the lead up to their fight. Aldo got so emotional and angry that he walked right in with a right hand that opened him up to a countershot that flatlined him.
Cooler heads prevail in these kinds of conflicts and both fighters should leave their emotions at the door once they enter the cage.
