“He kind of made me believe” - Fabricio Andrade disappointed in John Lineker for trying to take him down

Fabricio Andrade was bitterly disappointed when John Lineker resorted to wrestling during their fight at ONE on Prime Video 3.

Both Andrade and Lineker traded a war of words leading up to their bantamweight world title bout, with each promising to end the fight on their feet. However, as fans saw on Friday, October 21, ‘Hands of Stone’ resorted to wrestling in the first round, catching the youngster by surprise with a successful takedown.

Andrade knew he was going to force Lineker to shoot for a takedown, since he deemed himself the superior striker, but not so soon after the first bell.

Looking back on his fight with Lineker with SCMP MMA, ‘Wonder Boy’ expressed his disappointment at not being able to trade blows with the Brazilian hard-hitter as he had initially hoped:

“I expected him to shoot. But the way he was speaking in interviews that he was going to stand with me. He kind of made me believe a little bit. But he tried to wrestle really early. I was a bit disappointed with him on that part. Because I wanted to strike with him. I would have knocked him out in the first round if he stood up with me.”

‘Wonder Boy’ challenged John Lineker for the ONE bantamweight world title in front of millions of US fans for the first time.

After a crowd-pleasing first couple of rounds, the bout ended abruptly due to an accidental foul to the groin, which rendered Lineker unable to continue. Both fighters were visibly upset with the conclusion, with neither leaving the cage with the victory nor with a golden belt.

With that, it seems certain that the pair will run it back soon enough. But who knows how long it will take until the two meet again inside the circle for the vacant world title.

Catch the full interview with Fabricio Andrade below:

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Fabricio Andrade frustrated with the no-contest call at the end of his fight with John Lineker

Fabricio Andrade put everything he had into his world title fight with John Lineker. Never taking a day off, Andrade made it his mission to make sure he was over-prepared for whatever lay ahead.

Midway into the fight, Lineker entered the third round slow and noticeably worse for wear. His right eye was swollen shut, but Lineker pushed forward to try and go for broke as Andrade was only a breath away from taking home the victory.

Regrettably, the fight came to an astonishing halt when the youngster accidentally landed a knee below the belt.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a post-fight interview, Fabricio Andrade expressed his regret and frustration with how it all unfolded:

“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.”