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Stephen Loman insists he was impressed with Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker’s durability after watching them lock horns at ONE Fight Night 7.
On February 24 in Thailand, No. 1-ranked bantamweight, Wonder Boy, Fabricio Andrade was crowned the new ONE bantamweight world champion after he beat John Lineker by corner stoppage after the fourth round.
The two Brazilians put on one heck of a performance with a lot of action from start to finish. Although Lineker didn’t have things go his way, he was a lot sharper in this match than in his previous encounter with Andrade back in October. But it wasn’t enough to get a historic victory.
However, they never failed to impress one of the fastest rising contenders in the division, Stephen Loman. Speaking to The MMA Superfan this week, Loman admitted to being in awe after watching the Brazilians blast each other with their best shots.
“I also felt that Fabricio was about to get knocked out but he just absorbed John’s punches. Then in the later rounds, Fabricio went at it. His straights always found the target and he wobbled John, but John managed to absorb it. That’s why, in my head, I was thinking ‘who’s gonna win this? John or Fabricio?'"
Fabricio Andrade tells Filipino rising star Stephen Loman to “come and get it”
While Fabricio Andrade deservedly enjoys some time off, Stephen Loman is low-key preparing for war.
The Filipino rising star had already anticipated a future showdown with Andrade as he prepared for his most recent bantamweight clash against ‘The Flash’ Bibiano Fernandes last year.
The Team Lakay representative knew that if he beat Fernandes in dominant fashion, it was going to be a one-way ticket to a shot at the world title - and beat him he did. He manhandled the former divisional king for three long rounds to reach a unanimous decision.
On the other end, Fabricio Andrade wasn’t entirely surprised that Loman beat Fernandes, suggesting that a dominant win against someone past their prime wasn’t impressive.
Nonetheless, Loman is next in line. At the post-event interview with Mitch Chilson, Andrade even confirmed it by saying:
“We already got a contender in line. [Stephen] Loman, you want this? Come and get it.”
