Fabricio Andrade demonstrated that there is more to striking than just using brute force and going berserk. Just ask John Lineker.
The two Brazilian superstars met one other for the second time at ONE Fight Night 7 in Bangkok, Thailand, in February of this year to compete for the unclaimed ONE bantamweight world title.
Lineker is undoubtedly the hardest puncher pound for pound in mixed martial arts, but Andrade, who is both slick and accurate, had him beat when it came to the art of the Sweet Science.
Andrade, who stood at 5 feet 8 inches and had a height advantage of five inches over Lineker, exhibited such surgical precision in his blows that they caused Lineker’s eyes to close during the fight.
Following the infliction of such crippling damage on Lineker, the fight for the world title was stopped in the fourth round by the referee. Lineker was ultimately defeated.
Lineker expressed nothing but respect for the way Andrade methodically dismantled him to win the ONE bantamweight world champion when the fight took place almost five months after Lineker’s defeat.
Lineker said:
“Fabrio is a pretty hard-nosed individual. “[He is] very knowledgeable, very skilled, and he played his game, connecting the straight shots, which ultimately resulted in me being injured to the point where I was unable to see anymore.”
Lineker, who held the title of ONE Bantamweight World Champion in the past, now has the opportunity to work his way back into title contention.
When they meet in a decisive battle at ONE Fight Night 13 on Friday, in primetime in the United States, in the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, ‘Hands of Stone’ will compete against another knockout machine in the form of South Korean great Kim Jae Woong.
Lineker needs one or two victories to strengthen his case for another title defense in the bantamweight division. That is assuming he is successful in avoiding Kim.
“The Fighting God” has four victories in ONE Championship, and each and every one of those victories came through knockout. Kim is a dangerous striker who has defeated Rafael Nunes, Tetsuya Yamada, and Kevin Belingon and Martin Nguyen, both of whom had previously held the title of world champion.
All fights on the ONE Fight Night 13 event, including Lineker’s bout versus Kim, are streamed live and for free to Prime Video users in North America. This includes the opportunity to watch the whole program.
