John Lineker reveals how he overcame Kim Jae Woong’s surprising ground game: “I became calmer and smarter”

Brazilian mixed martial arts star John Lineker had himself a battle with Kim Jae Woong last time around, surprised by the South Korean’s ground game, but recovered just in time to go away with the win.

The two top-class fighters collided last month in Bangkok in a tightly fought contest that was only decided in the closing seconds of the third and final round.

John Lineker admitted that he struggled with Kim Jae Woong’s ground game for much of the contest but when he was able to calm himself, he got a better grip of what needed to be done to get the win.

The opening the ‘Hands of Stone’ was looking for came late in the final round when he caught the chin of ‘The Fighting God’ with a left hook, instantly sending Kim to the canvas. From there, John Lineker followed through with a barrage of punches that his fallen opponent simply had no answer to, prompting the referee to stop the contest at the 4:56 mark of the last round for the technical knockout victory.

In an interview with ONE Championship, John Lineker shared what went down in his last fight and how he wove his way to the win, saying:

“On the ground, I tried to work on the sweep when he was on top doing a strong ground and pound, and in the very end I managed to reverse the situation. After I managed to reverse the situation, I returned to the game. From then on I became calmer and smarter not to be taken down again.”

The TKO win was a bounce-back for the former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion after losing to current division king Fabricio Andrade back in February.

It is something he is looking to build on as he makes a short turnaround and returns to action on September 29 at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video in Singapore.

There he will take on fellow bantamweight contender Stephen Loman of the Philippines. Both fighters are out to book a win and solidify their claim for a title shot against Andrade at some point in the future.

Stephen Loman has won all of his three matches to date in ONE, the last one over Brazilian legend and former bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes last November by unanimous decision.

ONE Fight Night 14 is happening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and is available live and for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.