“Expecting him to be more aggressive” - Fabricio Andrade shocked by John Lineker’s reluctance to engage

Self-proclaimed “uncrowned king” Fabricio Andrade was shocked by John Lineker’s reluctance to release his inner beast against him at ONE on Prime Video 3.

As many fans know, "Hands of Stone" John Lineker is one of the hardest-hitting bantamweights at ONE Championship. Past footage of Lineker often saw him engaging in striking wars with opponents. They often ended with brutal highlight reel finishes, such as we saw in his last title matchup with Bibiano Fernandes at ONE: Full Circle.

Fabricio Andrade was shocked when he was confronted by a more passive version of John Lineker at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur. The 25-year-old Brazilian elaborated further on The MMA Superfan and said:

“You know, I was expecting him to be more aggressive, from what I knew from him in his past fights," said Andrade. "I was expecting him to be a bit more aggressive and engage with me from the start of the fight. But he actually respected me a lot. As soon as we touched gloves, he started to walk back straight away, and he was waiting a lot.”

Watch Fabricio Andrade’s exclusive interview with The MMA Superfan below:

In hindsight, John Lineker played his cards right from the beginning. As many tend to forget, Fabricio Andrade is an exceptional young athlete with the ability to debilitate opponents with one punch.

Holding an 80% finishing rate and ending all three of his rivals with first-round TKOs, Andrade is exactly the person you should be running away from.

Despite John Lineker having one of the best hands in the division, Andrade owns a wider range of skill sets, such as relying on the “art of eight limbs” to end fights. Not to mention his professional kickboxing experience, coupled with Brazillian jiu-jitsu -- all contributed to his massive success as a dangerous martial artist.

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Despite the massive letdown, Fabricio Andrade keeps his eye on the prize

Fabricio Andrade is itching to get back into the world title picture as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s a rematch with John Lineker or not, he knows that time is of the essence.

"Wonder Boy" quickly rose to the ranks of world title contention after a successful debut at ONE Championship in July 2020 against Mark Abelardo. The Brazilian rising star never kept his eye away from the prize, improving his all-encompassing skillset with world-renowned gym Tiger Muay Thai.

Discovering that if he doesn’t call for another fight as soon as possible, the dream of becoming a ONE world champion could slip away in a blink of an eye.

In a division filled with killers for an eye on the vacant prize, Fabricio Andrade wants to leave no doubt that he’s got a claim to the throne above all others.

He told ONE Championship:

“I made it very clear that I want to get back to fighting soon. If he’s prepared, it can be against him. If he’s not prepared, I want another opponent to fight for the belt. I want to take my belt,” Andrade said.