Fabricio Andrade says John Lineker is ‘still the toughest’ in the bantamweight division

ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade paid respect to his former rival and ex-divisional king John Lineker.

In October 2022, Andrade and Lineker first fought in the circle, with the latter vacating the ONE bantamweight MMA world title due to missing weight. ‘Wonder Boy’ was the only fighter eligible to claim the throne that night, but tragedy struck when he landed an illegal groin shot, which led to a no-contest.

Four months later, the rematch took place in the main event of ONE Fight Night 7. After four rounds of violence, Andrade became a world champion when Lineker couldn’t continue due to the damage he racked up courtesy of Andrade’s firepower upstairs.

Throughout their two-fight series, Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker became rivals after months of trash-talking. With that said, ‘Wonder Boy’ maintains respect for the skills of ‘Hands of Stone.’

The reigning bantamweight MMA king had this to say during an interview with the South China Morning Post:

“Even though he lost two times, I think he's still the toughest opponent in this division for me.”

It’s not impossible for Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker to fight for a third time.

On September 29, Lineker returns to action for the second time since losing to Andrade. ‘Hands of Stone’ looks to gain his first back-to-back wins since losing his gold against fellow title contender Stephen Loman.

Although nothing has been confirmed by the Singapore-based organization, there’s a high chance the winner of this clash at ONE Fight Night 14 could position themselves as a future contender and earn a title shot against Andrade.

In the meantime, Fabricio Andrade plans to extend his legacy at ONE Fight Night 15.

The bantamweight MMA king has secured a super-fight against Jonathan Haggerty, the bantamweight Muay Thai world champion, with the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title up for grabs.

ONE Fight Night 14 and ONE Fight Night 15 can be seen live and for free by active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.