John Lineker is known as ‘hands of stone’ for a reason. He is one of the hardest hitters in the history of the flyweight division and has lost none of his knockout power since moving up in weight.
The Brazilian faces compatriot Fabricio Andrade at ONE on Prime Video 3 next week and thinks that this power will be what makes the difference in this fight,
“My heavy hands, my iron fist, that will be the difference. You guys have seen what happens when I strike, I pack a punch. That’s the difference.”
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Ready to go
Lineker was signed by the UFC as a flyweight and won 12 out of his 16 fights for the promotion. But he also missed weight on five separate occasions and was eventually released as a result.
The 32 year old has been competing exclusively as a bantamweight since signing for ONE Championship and has had no issues at the scales. He captured the belt last time out, stopping Bibiano Fernandes in the second round.
Lineker will be making the first defence of that title in Kuala Lumpur next week and feels much more comfortable competing in the bantamweight division,
“I feel so good. Much better than before. I feel better both physically and emotionally. I feel very good, I like it and I’m ready to go.”
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Famous namesake
The name Lineker is more synonymous with football than MMA. Gary Lineker is a legendary striker who scored 48 goals for England while playing for Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham.
It sounds like Lineker is a football fan and he feels his one punch power allows him to win fights in a split second in much the same way his namesake used to win football matches,
“This is like football (because) you only need one goal to win just like I only need one punch to win.”
What makes this fight such an exciting one for MMA fans is that Andrade has been knocking out opponents too. He believes he can become the first fighter to finish Lineker in this fashion.
But Lineker has experience on his side and laughs off the suggestion that Andrade’s striking is so intimidating he will suddenly turn into a wrestler,
“It’s very nice for (him) to dream about turning me into a wrestler. But I’m ready for him. I have over 50 fights, I’ve never been KO’d.”
