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As far as Fabricio Andrade is concerned, he is the uncrowned ONE bantamweight world champion. However, the bathetic results of his action-packed battle against John Lineker at ONE on Prime Video 3 show otherwise, as he left the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur without the gold strap on his shoulders.
‘Wonder Boy’ was seconds away from realizing his lifelong dream after flooring Lineker with a crushing knee to the body that took the wind out of the feared knockout artist in round three.
As Lineker backed up in retreat, Andrade smelled blood and inadvertently hit him low with a follow-up knee right against the circle wall. ‘Hands of Stone’ was able to escape from the hellfire that was about to follow, as he called the attention of the referee for supposedly getting hit in the nether region.
What started as a barnburner ended in an absolute dud, as the match was ruled a no-contest since Lineker could not continue after the allotted five-minute injury break.
In the aftermath of arguably the most disappointing result of his young MMA career, Fabricio Andrade vowed to finish Lineker – with no questions asked – if their paths ever cross again.
The No.2-ranked bantamweight contender said in a statement post-fight:
“Everybody knows I’m the champion. And I proved in this fight that me and Lineker are not on the same level. If we fight again, I’m gonna make sure to finish him faster.”
He had ‘Hands of Stone’ hurt as early as round one and made true to his promise of turning Lineker into a wrestler. After feeling Andrade’s power, he uncharacteristically took the fight to the ground on several occasions.
The 32-year-old veteran found his stride in round two, rocking Fabricio Andrade multiple times with his infamous nuclear fists. The Tiger Muay Thai product, however, showed incredible resolve and survived Lineker’s best shots, en route to nearly finishing him in the third round.
Catch Fabricio Andrade’s post-fight comments below:
Fabricio Andrade says John Lineker is undeserving of immediate world title shot
As much as Fabricio Andrade would love a second crack at John Lineker to settle their unfinished business, he thinks the division must now move on without him.
In the same statement, the 25-year-old said he wants to fight another contender for the now-vacant bantamweight world title.
After supposedly choosing the cowardly way out of their fight, Andrade strongly believes Lineker wants no part of him in a possible rematch. He shared:
“He was not what I expected. I was pushing, trying to finish him all the fight. I can rematch him anytime. I want to be active. I want to fight as soon as possible. And I don’t think this guy wants a rematch with me. Maybe, let’s put another guy in line for the title because he couldn’t even make weight. So now the title is vacated.”
In the meantime, it remains unclear if ONE will decide to run it back between these two.
Then again, the winner of the recently announced bantamweight bout between former world champion Bibiano Fernandes and No.4-ranked Stephen Loman should provide another suitable contender, if they decide to go another way.
