Fabricio Andrade doesn’t care if John Lineker doesn’t make weight: “I’m going to knock him out”

Tensions are running high, but all Fabricio Andrade can see is the belt, and he won't let anyone, especially John Lineker, stand in his way.

The drama was thick in Kuala Lumpur last October when former bantamweight world champion John Lineker failed to make weight for a fight against Fabricio Andrade, leaving only Andrade eligible to win the belt. Lineker, on the other hand, was stripped of his world championship.

Not even Fabricio Andrade would get the belt that night due to an accidental groin strike on Lineker. Still, he’s so confident in his ability to beat Lineker this time around that a successful weigh-in on Lineker’s side is irrelevant to him.

The No.1 contender at bantamweight recently spoke to ONE Championship, saying this about his opponent’s troubles with the scale:

“That doesn’t interfere with anything. I’m not worried about that. If he doesn’t make weight again, we’re going to fight anyway, and I’m going to knock him out.”

Lineker’s strained relationship with the scale didn’t start at ONE on Prime Video 3 last year, but hopefully, he’s better equipped to push his weight into the green this time around. He only missed by 0.75 pounds last October, which shows that there’s not a lot of work to be done on his end to make weight.

ONE Fight Night 7 goes down on U.S. primetime on February 24 in Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for Amazon subscribers in North America.

---

Fabricio Andrade confident that psychological advantage belongs to him heading into John Lineker rematch

While Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker have already fought two and a half rounds in the ONE circle, the fight will begin afresh on February 24 in the rematch, which is the main event of ONE Fight Night 7.

However, Andrade believes that he already has one advantage over his fellow Brazilian before the fight has begun. Fabricio revealed the edge that he perceives to have over Lineker in an interview with ONE Championship:

“I think the fact that I came very close to ending the fight, that he was badly hurt in the fight, and that I defended all his attempts on the ground, makes a difference in the psychological factor. He knows I’m better than him.”

Since MMA fights in ONE Championship are judged as a whole rather than round-by-round, we wouldn’t be able to see who won each round through the judges’ scorecards before the untimely stoppage.

However, a general consensus among fans and the media is that Fabricio Andrade was likely ahead due to the greater volume of strikes he landed and the damage dealt when compared to Lineker. 'Hands of Stone' was able to get his younger opponent to the ground on occasion, but to little effect, as Andrade was able to stand back to his feet.

The rematch will show which fighter is better prepared and has made the most crucial adjustments following a substantial body of work to study and dissect from their first meeting.