“He hurt me with knees” - John Lineker optimistic he could have turned ONE on Prime Video 3 match around before groin shot

Former bantamweight champion John Lineker refuses to consider himself out of his fight at ONE on Prime Video 3 at the time of the stoppage.

Lineker and Fabricio Andrade’s war ended in disappointing fashion following an unintentional illegal knee to the groin of Lineker. He couldn’t continue after a five-minute recovery period.

After three and a half rounds, Andrade landed a knee to the body which seemed to be the beginning of the end. However, his follow-up shot landed low.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Lineker said that he believes he was still in the fight right up until the illegal knee landed:

“I got hit after landing a right overhand. He hurt me with knees, but I breathed deeply and managed to absorb this hard blow. I was hoping to get out of range and put him down, but it turned out he came in with another knee that caught my groin. It hurt a lot, I felt so much pain that I couldn't get back into the fight.”

Whilst Andrade admitted that he got carried away in sensing the end of the fight, John Lineker has made a career out of being relentless.

His trademark pressure and big looping combinations hadn’t worked against Andrade. With that, the fight seemed to be slipping away from him, prompting many fans to call for an immediate rematch.

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“I don’t suffer” - John Lineker still a fan of ONE’s weight and hydration despite losing belt on the scales

John Lineker lost his ONE bantamweight world title without being defeated in the circle.

Ahead of his fight with Fabricio Andrade at ONE on Prime Video 3, John Lineker failed to make the bantamweight limit and was stripped of his world championship on the scale.

Despite missing weight, Lineker had nothing but great things to say about the promotion and their weigh-in process. ONE’s strict process requires fighters to pass a hydration test as well as make weight before they can compete.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Lineker explained some of the issues he had come weigh-in day:

“The weigh-in took place on a different day and at a different time, and that got in the way of my planning to hit the weight and do the hydration. I was weighing in on the scale I had in the room, but the scale tricked me. I got the weight off just right because I don't suffer to make it in ONE. Their weigh-in method is excellent!”

Despite missing weight, Lineker was cleared to fight in the main event under the stipulations that he would forfeit 20% of his purse and not be eligible to win back the bantamweight belt if he won the fight.