John Lineker admits trouble with Fabricio Andrade’s elusiveness

'Hands of Stone' John Lineker met his young compatriot Fabricio Andrade near the end of 2022. Officially, the match ended in a no contest due to an accidental illegal groin striker.

But up until the end, it was a back-and-forth war, with Lineker having success on the ground and Andrade landing well on the feet. Now, 'Hands of Stone' has even admitted that he struggled to land shots against Andrade.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, John Lineker explained how he felt in their first fight. He said:

"Andrade is a great fighter, very tough, and, unfortunately, I couldn't land my blows on him. Whenever my blow arrived, he was already leaving."

John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade will soon battle for the vacant bantamweight throne. The world championship rematch between the Brazilians is booked for ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, which will go down on February 24 at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium.

All the action will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers across North America.

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John Lineker learned much from the first fight

Going into their second match on February 24, John Lineker has said that he was able to learn a great many things from their first meeting. While speaking with Sportskeeda MMA, the MMA veteran said:

“It was a tough fight, Andrade has excellent Muay Thai. The lesson I learned from this fight is to work more at distance, grapple more, work on footwork and move my head more so that the fight develops in a different way.”

It sounds as though the heavy handed Lineker will be looking to bring a takedown-focused approach to their second match. With that, 'Hands of Stone' will look to carry the successful moments he had in the previous fight into the main event at ONE Fight Night 7.

Lineker was even aiming for a takedown up until the first fight had its unfortunate ending. He continued:

"When he came [forward], I was already setting up the takedown, and unfortunately, the blow landed on my groin, making it impossible for me to return to the fight. But I was going to survive that round and go for the win."