Battle-tested veteran John Lineker admits he could walk away from the sport right now with no regrets.
After all, the former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion has had a distinguished combat sports career and will go down as one of the heaviest hitters in the lighter weight classes.
'Hands of Stone's love for the game, however, remains as strong as ever, evidenced by his desire to try a completely different sport at this stage of his career.
Lineker will transition to 'The Art of Eight Limbs' at ONE 168: Denver, where he'll share the Circle with Asa Ten Pow in a three-round bantamweight Muay Thai slugfest.
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Speaking to ONE Championship ahead of his latest career move, the 34-year-old opened up about possibly hanging up his gloves in the coming years.
"I plan to fight another for another five or six years. That's my goal. I want to be able to do as many fights as possible during this period so that I can then retire, rest, and enjoy my family more."
The Brazilian KO artist also talked about his budding construction company, an endeavor he's looking to pursue full-time once he decides to retire, adding:
"If the company takes off I'll stop even sooner!"
Stephen Loman excited to see former foe John Lineker in Muay Thai
Stephen Loman knows firsthand how devastating John Lineker's strikes are. As such, the second-ranked bantamweight MMA contender believes 'Hands of Stone' will fit perfectly in a striking-only ruleset.
'The Sniper' told Sportskeeda MMA:
"In Muay Thai you really have to use your kicks, elbows, and knees. So I think he’ll use more of his kicks this time around, and of course he already has his boxing, hooks, body shots. He’ll mix things up, and I think he’ll try to use his kicks more."
Tickets for ONE 168: Denver at Ball Arena on September 6 are available via Ticketmaster