John Lineker shares throwback photo after recent Brazilian jiu-jitsu belt upgrade

John Lineker recently looked back at the start of his Brazilian jiu-jitsu journey to where he is today in a recent post on Instagram.

The post shows two photos of Lineker standing side-by-side with his mentor, Ocimar Costa. The first one shows ‘Hands of Stone’ donning a white belt in 2014, while the other shows him with his black belt and a ONE Championship world title belt as well.

John Lineker is known for his heavy punches that earned him his nickname. However, he has continued honing his craft in BJJ to be a more complete MMA fighter. He hasn’t been able to show much of it in his first three bouts in the ONE Championship Circle, as he finished two of his opponents via knockout.

Earlier this year, Lineker earned his first world title shot against one of the most dominant champions in the promotion, Bibiano Fernandes. The pair had a heated rivalry heading into the contest and when they finally met in the cage, it was Lineker’s hands that helped him defeat the fifth-degree BJJ black belt.

A few days after his monumental win, Lineker was awarded another belt - a BJJ black belt from Costa.

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What’s next for John Lineker?

John Lineker will have no shortage of challengers for the world title when he returns to action in the cage.

Bibiano Fernandes is certainly worthy of a rematch if he chooses to chase the world title again. Meanwhile, No.3-ranked bantamweight Stephen Loman had a big win on the historic ONE X card and will certainly plead his case to climb up the rankings.

No.2-ranked Kwon Won Il will also feel that he is due for a world title opportunity owing to his position and his three-bout win streak. However, the most vocal challenger has been No.4-ranked Fabricio Andrade. The young Brazilian said that he now has the same record as Lineker in ONE Championship and should be considered for a world title opportunity.

With each of the fighters in the top five having a legitimate case to challenge Lineker, it would not be surprising to see them duke it out for the right to do so.