John Lineker could not recover his ONE bantamweight title this weekend. Having lost the belt due to a weight miss back in 2022, his first fight against Fabricio Andrade ended in a No Contest due to an accidental groin strike by ‘Wonder Boy’, which left the former champ unable to continue in the fight.
Despite putting his best effort, ‘Hands of Stone’ did not retrieve his belt in the rematch, as well. This time around, though, Andrade managed to score a clear TKO win when Lineker’s own corner stopped the fight at the end of the fourth round in order to prevent John from more unecessary damage.
Corner stoppages are relatively rare in MMA compared to boxing, and soon after the fight, Lineker’s manager tweeted to explain the reason behind their decision. According to Alex Davis, it was simply made to prioritize John’s health.
Some criticism about having stopped liniker x Andrade. It was a hard to do, specially it being a title fight. Both johns eyes were closed, I had to take that dec. Safety comes first. Congrats to both men & to Fabricio for winning the title!oss! @yodchatri @johnlineker @MattHume8 pic.twitter.com/87LLcFLMZR
— Alex Davis (@Alexdavismma) February 25, 2023
Before the Andrade fights, Lineker (35-10-1 NC) was on a four-fight winning streak under ONE’s banner, with victories over Muin Gafurov, Kevin Belingon, Troy Worthen and Bibiano Fernandes, with three of them coming by way of knockout. The 32-year-old’s most recent loss before that happened October 2019, when he dropped a split decisiont o Cory Sandhagen the Brazilian’s last UFC fight.
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