“It's something that haunts me” - John Lineker upset he missed weight and lost his belt

Former ONE bantamweight world champion John Lineker experienced a string of bad luck last weekend, which still haunts him today. John Lineker was slated to defend his bantamweight world title against Brazil’s rising superstar, Fabricio Andrade at ONE on Prime Video 4.

However, before making his scheduled entrance, Lineker was stripped of his world title for missing weight twice: the first time at 145.5 pounds and the second time at 145.75 pounds, as the South China Morning Post (SCMP) previously reported.

Speaking exclusively to ONE Championship, Lineker expressed his disappointment at missing weight again, stating how past traumas have affected his mindset going into the fight:

“Losing the title for a silly thing, for a miscalculation I made at the weigh-ins, made me very upset. This weight issue seems like karma to me. It's something that haunts me. I had managed to adapt well, and it was working, and now this happens. It's a trauma. I was very upset. I wasn't suffering to lose weight, it wasn't lack of professionalism or lack of training. It was silly and made me very upset, even because of the history I already had.”

As John Lineker revealed, he has a history of missing weight. During his UFC tenure, the Brazilian veteran missed weight five times before being released by the promotion in July 2019. Ahead of his fight with Andrade last week, it was the first time he ever failed to meet ONE’s hydration and weight standards.

In comparison to other promotions, Lineker has said before that he liked the way ONE conducted their hydration tests. Besides this hiccup, he’s always felt like he was in the best shape of his career.

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Fabricio Andrade believes John Lineker wouldn’t want to face him again after a dominant performance

Not two seconds after the fight with John Lineker ended, Fabricio Andrade returned to social media to poke fun at his rival.

On October 21, Andrade was on the very brink of success before that ill-fated knee to the groin stopped the fight. With a vacant belt on the line, the Brazilian brash-talker doesn’t believe ‘Hands of Stone’ would want a repeat of the same fight.

He told ONE Championship:

“The guy has been running from me for a long time. He comes in here, doesn’t make weight, and now he gave up on the fight like that. It’s frustrating for me. I don’t believe he wants to face me again. If he wants a rematch, he can rematch me anytime.”