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ONE Championship provided a brief breakdown of John Lineker’s breakout moment.
Lineker made his ONE debut in 2019 after building a highly-credentialed resume in Brazil and North America. After beating his first three opponents in ONE, ‘Hands of Stone’ earned a bantamweight title shot against 11x champion Bibiano Fernandes.
Fernandes and ‘Hands of Stone’ went to war before the latter pulled off a highlight-reel knockout in the second round. Nearly a year later, ONE posted Lineker’s special moment with the caption saying:
“We'll break it down 😎 John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade run it back for the vacant ONE Bantamweight World Championship at ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24! 🏆 @johnlinekermma #ONEFightNight7 | Feb 24”
The video featured a quick breakdown that read:
“Right Hook breaks guard. Left Hook knocks out.”
Lineker seemed unbeatable after finishing three of his first four opponents in ONE Championship. Seven months after earning the title, ‘Hands of Stone’ was matched up against rising superstar Fabricio Andrade. The former bantamweight champion had to vacate the title after missing weight against Andrade. Things went from bad to worse after a groin strike from ‘Wonder Boy’ led to a no-contest.
Watch John Lineker's knockout against Bibiano Fernandes below:
What’s next for John Lineker?
Fabricio Andrade started taking over against John Lineker before the fight was abruptly ended when Lineker couldn’t recover from an illegal low blow. Andrade’s dreams of becoming a world champion were halted with the rematch scheduled for February 24.
Going into their rematch, Lineker is being somewhat overlooked because of Andrade’s world-class striking skills. Although ‘Wonder Boy’ did look impressive in their first fight, ‘Hands of Stone’ has the power and work ethic to beat any bantamweight on the planet.
Lineker vs. Andrade will headline a stacked fight card featuring Tawanchai vs. Jamal Yusupov for the ONE featherweight Muay Thai title, Martin Nguyen vs. Shamil Gasanov, and Danielle Kelly vs. Ayaka Miura in submission grappling. ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video goes down on February 24 and can be viewed for free by all North American Amazon Prime subscribers.
Check out the ONE Fight Night 7 fight card below:
