John Lineker adamant about mixed martial arts return despite Muay Thai success: “My focus is on MMA”

Veteran MMA fighter John Lineker has had a successful foray in Muay Thai but reiterated that his focus is still on the multifaceted sport of mixed martial arts, which he is looking forward to returning to soon.

'Hands of Stone' raced to his second straight victory in the 'art of eight limbs' at ONE Fight Night 25: Nicolas vs. Eersel II on Oct. 4 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. He fashioned out another knockout victory, this time over Russian Alexey Balyko, whom he stopped in the opening round of their bantamweight Muay Thai scrap.

The win was in follow up to the second-round KO finish he had over American Asa Ten Pow in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., last month.

In the post-fight interview, John Lineker shared that while he is settling well in Muay Thai, he is still first and foremost an MMA fighter, saying:

"Yeah, my focus is on MMA, but I'm really enjoying fighting in Muay Thai, you know, especially because this is more striking. So I don't need to be worried when they want to take me down, this kind of thing. But my focus is MMA."

At ONE Fight Night 25, John Lineker steamrolled over Balyko. He immediately went to work, uncorking a barrage of strikes which took a toll on his opponent.

The Brazilian landed a big left hook with 90 seconds to go in the opening frame that droppped Balyko. The Russian was able to answer the count but no sooner went down anew with consecutive left hooks from Lineker.

Balyko went crashing for the third and final time when he ate another vicious left at the 2:14 mark of the first round.

The KO win earned John Lineker a second consecutive $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong after that for his victory over Ten Pow.

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription who want to relive all the action at ONE Fight Night 25 can do so on demand.

---

John Lineker expected a fistic clash against Alexey Balyko

John Lineker expected a fistic showdown against Alexey Balyko at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4 and got exactly that, which in the end worked to his advantage.

The 34-year-old American Top Team standout shared this in the lead-up to the fight night at Bangkok's famed Lumpinee Stadium, saying:

"From what little I've seen, and what I've studied of his game, he's a guy who uses boxing more, just like me. In my last fight, I used boxing more, and very few kicks and elbows.

"I saw that he likes this same style. He likes to go for striking, and even uses kicks, but very little. So, I see it as a fight between two athletes with very similar fighting styles. There will definitely sparks."

Sure enough, at ONE Fight Night 25, Lineker made full use of his boxing skills to steadily tear down Balyko for the KO win.