ONE Championship star Fabricio Andrade plans to capture his first ONE world title in spectacular fashion on October 21.
Andrade, the No.2-ranked bantamweight, will take on mixed martial arts veteran John Lineker for the ONE bantamweight world title. For Andrade, it will be the biggest fight of his career thus far.
Despite that, the Brazilian challenger wants to do more than just capture ONE gold at ONE on Prime Video 3. He wants to do something that no man has done before: knock John Lineker out.
Lineker has more than lived up to his nickname ‘Hands of Stone’ with 17 career knockouts, three occurring inside the circle. Aside from the damage he deals, perhaps ‘Steel Chin’ would be an equally appropriate moniker.
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Even so, Fabricio Andrade is far from impressed and has every intention of being the first man to put Lineker to sleep inside the cage.
In an interview with ONE Championship ahead of their U.S. primetime showdown, Andrade shared his desire to put on a show for fans around the world while making history at the same time:
“I think that not only the American audience, but the fans in general like to see knockout artists. They like to see athletes who come in to finish the fight.”
Andrade continued:
“I believe people are already impressed with my performances, but they will be even more impressed to see me finish a guy like Lineker, who has never been knocked out in MMA.”
Despite the trash talk, Fabricio Andrade has respect for John Lineker
Even before their ONE on Prime Video 3 main event was announced, Fabricio Andrade was busy talking about John Lineker.
With the two scheduled to throw hands in a world title scrap, the trash talk has only ramped up, However, make no mistake, there is a level of respect that ‘Wonder Boy’ has for his Brazilian counterpart.
As a teenager growing up in Brazil, Fabricio Andrade recalls watching his fellow countryman compete in the UFC. John Lineker continues to be a big name amongst Brazilian fans, and that is not lost on ‘Wonder Boy’, who shared a word of respect for the reigning world champion:
“I think in ONE Championship, [this is] the biggest fight between two guys from the same country. Because, as I said, he has a big name, especially in Brazil. Everybody knows him. I watched the guy since I was 14 years old, you know. In 2012, he was already in the UFC, so I've known him for a long, long time. And I know that our people know him, and I respect him a lot.”