John Lineker feels he could have fought a ‘war until the end’ if not for low blow

At ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, John Lineker has a point to prove in his rematch with Fabricio Andrade.

Whilst the fight may have ended in a no contest, it was clear that Andrade was on his way to becoming the bantamweight world champion but that isn’t the standpoint of the former titleholder.

After hurting Lineker with his trademark knee to the body, Fabricio Andrade’s follow-up strike on his compromised opponent landed low on his groin, which ended the fight in disappointing fashion.

‘Wonder Boy’ still received a lot of praise due to his performance and the low blow being declared unintentional, but John Lineker believes that it robbed him of the opportunity to stay in the fight.

‘Hands of Stone’ has proven his toughness many times under the biggest and brightest lights and he believes that if it wasn’t for the knee that caused a stop to the action, he would have continued and tried to turn the fight around. In an interview with ONE Championship, Lineker said:

“Other than that, the only thing that hurt was the knee to the rib and then he landed the knee in my groin. If it weren’t for that illegal move, he would have had to fight me for five rounds. And it would be a war until the end.”

With that in mind, John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade know that they could have a different fight on their hands. Thanks to their rematch on February 24, Lineker will have the opportunity to prove himself when he runs it back with his fellow Brazilian fighter.

ONE Fight Night 7 is live and free in North America via Prime Video.

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John Lineker admits issue with weight affected his latest performance

Before John Lineker could even step foot inside the cage at ONE on Prime Video 3 to face Fabricio Andrade, he faced adversity. At the weigh-ins before the fights kicked off the following day, Lineker was stripped of his bantamweight world championship after he missed weight on the scales.

Fortunately for the fans, the fight was still scheduled to take place with the caveat being that the world championship would be vacant and that it would only be on the line for Fabricio Andrade.

With the fight itself ending in a no contest, the world championship remained without a holder but that will be settled at ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24 when Lineker and Andrade meet in a rematch.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA ahead of their rematch, John Lineker spoke about how he was affected in their first fight by his own weight miss and how he isn’t concerned about it becoming a factor the second time around:

“At ONE I don't have this difficulty making weight, so I don't think I have anything to worry about, I won't be upset by what happened in the past, I won't let it mess with my head. On the day I didn't make the weight, it affected me a lot and harmed me. All because of my history. But now I'm going to do it differently, I'm going to do everything right, and check before going to the official weigh-in.”