John Lineker believes movement and distance management is key in Fabricio Andrade rematch

Former bantamweight champion John Lineker had his struggles in his first encounter with Fabricio Andrade for the vacant ONE bantamweight world title and is looking to address them in their rematch later this month.

The top two Brazilian fighters will settle some unfinished business when they collide at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 24 in Bangkok. It is a redo of their first world title clash back in October, which ended in a no-contest.

'Hands of Stone' got pummeled last time around before the unexpected outcome, which served as a bitter lesson and something he said he had learned from. Speaking to MMA Sucka, the veteran fighter shared that in the rematch, he will make it tougher for Andrade by trying to avoid being a “stationary” target.

“I imagine myself imposing my game. I won’t fight so still this time. I’m going to move more, work better at distance, which is where I had the most difficulty. I imagine an ending with my knockout victory.”

In their first encounter, John Lineker failed to handle the distance game of Andrade, who went in and out with effectiveness and inflicted a lot of damage.

The fight was ruled a no-contest when John Lineker was unable to continue late in the third round after absorbing an accidental strike in the groin. However, there was hardly any solace for the former champion as he knew he was outplayed in the match. The nightmarish outing for John Lineker started even prior to the contest, as he was stripped of the bantamweight belt for missing weight.

ONE Fight Night 7 will take place at the famous Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will be aired live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

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John Lineker believes he has a solution for Fabricio Andrade’s Muay Thai

John Lineker expects to have a better showing when he faces off against Fabricio Andrade in a rematch for the vacant ONE bantamweight world title later this month.

'Hands of Stone' believes he has found the solution to the struggles that beset his game when he fought 'Wonder Boy' last October, including the expert Muay Thai play that Andrade employed.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, he said:

"Andrade is an excellent fighter, a tough guy, but for sure this new fight against him will be different. But like I said, even though he has good Muay Thai, I'm working a lot on the issue of distance to shorten it better and use my grappling. I'm also working on my movement in the cage. It will definitely make a difference."

John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade reengage at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 24 in Bangkok to put a dot on their championship mix-up after their first title clash in October ended in a no-contest.

Prior to the sorry outcome, Lineker was on a solid winning run, chalking up four straight victories, including a title-clinching performance against long-time bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes.