Former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion John Lineker will make his kickboxing debut under the world's largest martial arts organization on March 23 at ONE 172 as he is scheduled to face Japanese sensation Hiroki Akimoto in a bantamweight scrap.
Before he trade shots with the former ONE bantamweight kickboxing king, Lineker has been constantly studying Akimoto's style through film but has yet to fully see a weak point that he could exploit.
'Hands of Stone' shared this during his recent interview with ONE Championship:
"I'm analyzing his game and looking for gaps to exploit in the fight. But we're still analyzing his game, so I can't yet say there's a weak point where I can impose my game."
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The Brazilian knockout artist is also looking to make his mark in the kickboxing realm after having a successful pit stop in Muay Thai with two wins in three matches.
Lineker guns for his ninth victory in the promotion since his debut in October 2019.
John Lineker says that his main focus is still with MMA despite competing in Muay Thai and kickboxing matches
The American Top Team representative is looking forward to his inaugural kickboxing match at ONE 172, but he revealed that his main priority remains with MMA.
According to Lineker, he and his team enjoy the success of his Muay Thai detour but he needs to decide on whether he would continue fighting under such a ruleset, as he told ONE Championship in an interview:
"Of course, my focus is MMA, but the fights I was doing were getting me really excited. When we're winning, we get really excited, right? But let's see what happens. Now I want to move on and see what the future holds for me."
Fans can purchase the ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang PPV card via watch.onefc.com. The card goes down inside the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on March 23.