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As the highly anticipated rematch between Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker approaches, the pair were scheduled to take part in a face-to-face interview. Unfortunately, Lineker did not show up, giving ‘Wonder Boy’ a little more fuel to throw on the fire as they enter fight week.
The two Brazilian heavy hitters will once again step into the main event spotlight with the ONE bantamweight world championship hanging in the balance. Sharing his thoughts on Lineker’s no-show during a pre-event interview, Fabricio Andrade suggested that ‘Hands of Stone’ was too embarrassed to show his face after their first encounter in October.
“Man, it must be embarrassing for him. He's going to show up, and what is he going to say? Even in the last interview, he probably is just embarrassed. He doesn't want to be in this position. So I don't know why. I'm not angry or mad or anything. I think it's just funny that he didn't show up.”
It’s hard to imagine that after competing in the world’s biggest combat sports organizations over the last 15 years, John Lineker would have anything to be embarrassed about. Still, his last appearance inside the circle certainly left a lot to be desired.
Aside from losing his ONE world title on the scale by missing weight for his ONE on Prime Video 3 main event with Andrade, Lineker failed to muster any real offense through the three-and-a-half round duration and was nearly finished before an ill-placed knee by Andrade ended things abruptly.
Fabricio Andrade cool, calm, and collected going into biggest fight of his career
Four months ago, Fabricio Andrade was understandably tense going into his first world title opportunity at ONE on Prime Video 3. As he enters fight week for perhaps the biggest rematch in ONE Championship history, ‘Wonder Boy’ is feeling cool, calm, and collected.
“This camp was much more enjoyable than the last one. I think after that fight, I put pressure on myself. I was still coming for the fight. I was still trying to show how good I was. And coming to this one, I already know I'm the number one bantamweight in the world now.”
Though he didn’t leave Malaysia with the ONE world championship wrapped around his waist, Andrade’s performance was good enough to skyrocket him to the No.1 spot in the promotion’s bantamweight rankings. Next, Fabricio Andrade will attempt to accomplish a goal that narrowly slipped through his fingers late last year. Amazon Prime Video subscribers can catch the epic rematch at ONE Fight Night 7 live and free in U.S. primetime this Friday, February 24.
