Fabricio Andrade finally made John Lineker quit. It took him longer than expected, with the first fight ending in a no contest and the rematch going four full rounds but the young Brazilian was finally crowned as the bantamweight champion at ONE Fight Night 7 in Bangkok.
Lineker started the fight on the front foot but didn’t waste any time before shooting for a takedown. Andrade was able to work his way out but the UFC veteran persistently looked to put the younger man on his back.
Lineker was being aggressive and coming forwards but towards the end of the round he was tagged by a series of hard right hands from Andrade. He seemed on the verge of finishing the fight but the former champion was saved by the bell.
"Wonder Boy" puts "Hands of Stone" ON THE ROPES at the end of a wild Round 1! ⚔️
Tune in to Amazon Prime Video now to catch the rest of the ONE Fight Night 7 card LIVE!#ONEFightNight7
🇺🇸🇨🇦 FREE with a subscription 👉 https://t.co/gtIKS8nVp9
🌍 Live TV broadcast in 170+… pic.twitter.com/T9W8biunEf— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 25, 2023
Aggressive start
Lineker was undeterred and made an aggressive start to the second round. He looked for another takedown but seemed to run out of steam in the closing stages.
Lineker looked tired at this stage but he was still throwing punches with evil intent. Andrade was landing his jabs more consistently and towards the end of the round the younger man ended up in top position for the first time in the fight after a botched takedown attempt from his opponent.
The fourth round started slowly but by the end Lineker was in full retreat mode as Andrade trapped him against the ring ropes and looked to land combinations of punches. The 20 minutes had clearly taken their toll on the 32 year old who did not come out for the fifth round.
With the win Andrade improves to 9-2-0-1 and wins the ONE Championship bantamweight belt. Lineker drops to 35-10-0-1 after losing for the first time since signing with the promotion.
AND NEW! 👑 @fabriciowdb 🇧🇷 dissects John Lineker to force a corner stoppage after Round 4 and claim the ONE Bantamweight World Title!#ONEFightNight7 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/qbFDJ0otua
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 25, 2023
Best of the rest
Former featherweight and lightweight champion Martin Nguyen (15-6) got back to winning ways with a hard fought decision victory over Leonardo Casotti (9-3). The Brazilian was a late replacement who took the fight at very short notice.
There was also a decision win for former flyweight title challenger Danny Kingad (15-3). He outpointed Eko Roni Saputra (7-2), snapping the Indonesian’s seven fight winning streak.
ONE Fight Night 7, Bangkok, February 25th
Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym def. Jamal Yusupov via KO (Leg kick) at 0:49 of R1
Martin Nguyen def. Leonardo Casotti via Decision (Unanimous)
Kickboxing: Saemapetch Fairtex def. Zhang Chenglong via Decision (Unanimous)
Danny Kingad def. Eko Roni Saputra via Decision (Unanimous)
Submission Grappling: Danielle Kelly def. Ayaka Miura via Decision (Unanimous)
Kickboxing: Françesco Xhaja def. Andrei Stoica via Decision (Split)
Victória Souza def. Linda Darrow via Decision (Unanimous)
Submission Grappling: Tommy Langaker def. Uali Kurzhev via Submission (Heel hook) at 2:58 of R1
Adrian Mattheis def. Zelang Zhaxi via TKO (Punches) at 0:57 of R1
