“I won’t be shooting for takedowns” - Fabricio Andrade says John Lineker will break their "no takedowns" challenge

ONE bantamweight title contender Fabricio Andrade is eager to test if John Lineker’s hands are really made out of stone.

The pair of Brazilian berserkers have reportedly reached a gentleman’s agreement ahead of their monumental clash at ONE on Prime Video 3, with Lineker’s ONE bantamweight world title up for grabs.

Andrade and Lineker, who both can’t wait to get their hands on each other, vowed to keep it standing and attempt zero takedowns in the main event of their clash, which takes place on October 21, inside the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

With less than a week to go until their paths finally collide, the 25-year-old star wonders if Lineker will hold up to his end of the bargain.

Speaking with Sherdog’s Tudor Leonte, ‘Wonder Boy’ made it clear that he won’t be breaking his pact and will stand toe-to-toe with one of the scariest knockout artists to ever grace the circle.

“He says he won’t shoot. He has the impression that he thinks I’m going to shoot. Definitely, I won’t be shooting for takedowns in this fight. Once he feels my power he’s going to try and do anything to win.”

The extremely confident challenger added:

“I’m going to turn him into a wrestler. It doesn’t mean he’s going to take me down. He’ll probably try but it won’t work.”

Keeping it standing against a freakish power-puncher like Lineker will be much easier said than done. After all, a lot of fighters have felt the wrath of ‘Hands of Stone’ after trying to beat him at his own game.

Lineker has 35 career wins to his name, with 17 of those coming by way of terrifying knockouts. Fabricio Andrade, on the other, hasn’t done too bad either, finishing his last three opponents inside the circle in less than a round.

It is worth noting that the American Top Team standout has never been knocked out either, something that Andrade wants to change as well.

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Fabricio Andrade plans to make John Lineker’s title reign short-lived

Fabricio Andrade lauds his fellow Brazilian for ending Bibiano Fernades’ dominance over the 145-pound ranks. However, 'Wonder Boy' is confident that Lineker is only warming up his throne as king of the bantamweights.

As far as the Tiger Muay Thai product is concerned, the gold strap is as good as his. Lineker won’t be able to call himself a true world champion, since he won’t be able to defend his belt successfully even once.

Fabricio Andrade explained in an interview with Andrew Whitehall of Asian MMA:

“It would make a good story because he was never a world champion. He got the chance to be a world champion and maybe before I came, [he thought] nobody would stop him. If he fights any of those [other] guys, I believe he would knock them out as well. But I kind of ruined all of his plans, and I'm going to take the belt from him.”