By:  | October 12, 2023 8:39 am

A journalist in the Philippines caused a commotion on the local scene by questioning the advice Stephen Loman was getting from his corner at ONE Fight Night 14. The Team Lakay representative tried and failed to outwrestle John Lineker throughout the three round fight at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Even Lineker was surprised. The UFC veteran had expected his opponent to be much more aggressive and questions why Loman took such a cautious strategy,

“I expected more from Loman. I think he was very cautious. He tried to preserve himself more in the fight. He tried to fight without taking any risks to try to win on points. But I think you have to get in the cage and show that you deserve to be there in that position.”

Frustrating approach

Loman does tend to go the distance. This was the third time in a row that one of the Filipino’s fights has been settled by the judges but he does have the ability to knock opponents out which made his approach to last month’s fight particularly frustrating.

While Lineker emerged as the clear victory the fight did not produce too much by way of action and the Brazilian feels the blame lies with his opponent,

“I think he could have risked a little more so we could put on more of a show. He has a history of knockouts, but in this fight, he left something to be desired.”

Lineker’s two fights with Fabricio Andrade produced plenty of action. He also managed to score a buzzer beater KO against Kim Jae Woong in his last outing despite the Korean’s reluctance to engage in a striking match.

For Lineker the gameplan heading into last month’s fight was to finish Loman. But his opponent was more interested in securing takedowns than trading leather.

Unfortunate strategy

While Lineker was able to continuously stuff the takedown attempts and keep the fight standing Loman’s strategy ensured that there was no chance of a good old fashioned brawl breaking out,

Lineker sounds apologetic about that but feels his opponent’s strategy was designed to limit the amount of action the fight could produce,

“I did what I always do. I went into the cage to get the knockout. Unfortunately, my opponent came up with a strategy to take me down, but I managed to defend his takedown attempts.”

For Lineker another shot at Andrade possibly beckons. For his part Loman must have some regrets and perhaps that explains why he decided to visit the Fairtex Gym to train this week.