Fabricio Andrade was surprised with John Lineker’s approach in first fight: “He was really patient”

Fabricio Andrade was impressed with the restraint that John Lineker showed in their first meeting at ONE on Prime Video 3.

The two Brazilian heavy hitters will meet once again this Friday night after their meeting in October ended in a no-contest.

Ahead of their ONE bantamweight world title clash at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, ‘Wonder Boy’ spoke with Sports Illustrated to share his thoughts on the patience that Lineker exhibited in their initial scrap:

“The only thing that surprised me is that he was really patient and he respected me a lot. He was not coming forward. I was expecting him to come a little bit more forward and try to throw more hands, but I think he respects me a lot. He didn't want to get caught, so I thought he used his patience well.”

John Lineker is known for his incredible power, primarily from his looping hooks, that can send a man crashing to the canvas in a matter of seconds. However, that was not the Lineker that fans got when he first stepped into the Circle with Fabricio Andrade. ‘Hands of Stone’ was much more reserved in his approach, likely due to the devastating power and reach advantage that Andrade holds.

It will be interesting to see how John Lineker adapts in the highly anticipated rematch this Friday night at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. The event will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers in North America.

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Fabricio Andrade was saddened by the unfortunate end to his first meeting with John Lineker

On the cusp of becoming a ONE world champion, Fabricio Andrade instead found himself leaving Malaysia empty-handed in October after an ill-placed low blow resulted in the bout being dubbed a no-contest.

A dejected ‘Wonder Boy’ could be seen throwing his mouthpiece in frustration behind the scenes. An understandable reaction considering, by all accounts, Andrade was mere seconds away from scoring the biggest win of his career.

Sharing his thoughts on the anticlimactic finish in an interview with ONE Championship, Fabricio Andrade revealed that the results of that evening left him incredibly frustrated and undeniably sad:

“I trained a lot, worked a lot, and sacrificed a lot to get in my best shape. I made weight, I did everything right, I was winning the fight, almost knocking him out, and the fight ended like that. From a near knockout to a no-contest, it was very frustrating. I was very sad with the result of the fight.”