“A king without a crown is not a king” - John Lineker says Fabricio Andrade can’t call himself champion without the belt

John Lineker is ready to fight Fabricio Andrade for the bantamweight world championship in two weeks. Whose belt is it though?

Technically, the bantamweight world championship doesn’t belong to any fighter right now. John Lineker, its most recent keeper, forfeited the belt by missing weight at ONE on Prime Video 3 last October.

Fabricio Andrade then failed to capitalize on a situation where the belt could only be won by him in the ensuing fight. Instead, the fight was unceremoniously ended by a low blow to Lineker in the third round, resulting in a no contest ruling.

Despite the odd twists and turns, John Lineker feels in his gut that he’s still the world champion. Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA, Lineker summarized the situation:

"To me, a king without a crown is not a king. I still consider myself a champion, because he didn't beat me. I lost on the scale due to technical problems. A king without a crown is not a king and I'm going to go into the cage with the thought that I'm going to defend my title."

While no one left Kuala Lumpur with the ONE bantamweight belt, many felt that the momentum was with Fabricio Andrade in the fight. John Lineker, swelling with the confidence of a champion, will try to remind fans of why he was the world champion in the first place with a convincing victory over his fellow Brazilian.

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John Lineker promises new approach to cutting weight, says weight-miss against Andrade affected his performance

John Lineker appeared to be a step behind Fabricio Andrade last year, but according to Lineker, there’s a concrete reason for that. The former world champion cites his conflict with the scales as a main reason why he didn’t feel himself, but he vows to have all of that sorted out for ONE Fight Night 7.

Here’s what he told to Sportskeeda MMA:

“At ONE I don't have this difficulty making weight, so I don't think I have anything to worry about, I won't be upset by what happened in the past, I won't let it mess with my head. On the day I didn't make the weight, it affected me a lot and harmed me. All because of my history. But now I'm going to do it differently, I'm going to do everything right, and check before going to the official weigh-in.”

While typically fighting at 125lbs and 135lbs in his career, he now gets to fight at 145lbs and cuts less weight. His weight miss at ONE on Prime Video 3 was minute- just small changes should do the trick to allow the rematch to proceed without drama.

The fight will serve as the main event of ONE Fight Night 7, which takes place on February 24th in Bangkok, Thailand. The card will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers across North America.