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Reigning ONE bantamweight world champion John Lineker may not have a fight officially lined up just yet, however, that won’t keep the Brazilian from putting in work at the gym.
Following his crushing knockout of former world champion Bibiano Fernandes at ONE: Lights Out in March, ‘Hands of Stone’ has been putting in the work for his next go in the circle.
On the ONE Championship Instagram page, the promotion shared a clip of the world champion putting in some pad word, specifically developing a monstrous left hook:
“ONE Bantamweight World Champion John Lineker stays busy”
Check out the Instagram post below:
Since his spectacular win in March, ‘Hands of Stone’ has been waiting for his first challenger to emerge.
Following an impressive knockout of his own at ONE 158, Fabricio Andrade looks to be that challenger. Scoring an impressive body kick KO of Kwon Won Il in June, ‘Wonder Boy’ appears to have secured his spot at the front of the line.
After his ONE 158 victory, Andrade spoke with ONE Championship about an eventual showdown with Lineker. ‘Wonder Boy’ suggested that ‘Hands of Stone’ had been ducking him for the past couple of years, he then went onto declare himself the division’s true bantamweight king:
"I believe I am the uncrowned bantamweight king. It's been two years since I asked to fight John Lineker, and he pretends he doesn't see it. He's hiding. He doesn't want to fight me. And I've already faced every opponent ONE sent me."
John Lineker vows to "educate" Fabricio Andrade next
John Lineker has never been one for trash talking. Preferring to do his talking inside the circle, ‘Hands of Stone’ told ONE Championship:
“I’m getting used to this type of athlete who likes to promote fights by disrespecting opponents. It just goes to show that he’s a disrespectful guy to his opponents. He doesn’t have an ounce of education. He wants to promote fights in [the] wrong way. I don’t care about that. I like to respond inside the cage, in my own way, kicking [expletive]. But if they [ONE] think he’s worthy to fight for the belt, I’ll educate him, for sure.”
Unbeaten under the ONE Championship banner, ‘Hands of Stone’ knows a thing or two about impressive knockouts. In his four appearances, Lineker has finished three of his opponents, all by way of knockout. When discussing Andrade’s first-round knockout of Kwon Won Il, the champ told ONE that he was far from impressed:
“I wasn’t impressed because he got a knockout. That can happen in [any] fight, especially between strikers. He’s a good fighter, but he didn’t impress me at all."
As two very dangerous strikers, a bout between Lineker and Andrade is sure to produce fireworks.
Watch highlights of Lineker inside the ONE circle:
