John Lineker expects "a great performance" from ONE Fight Night 25 opponent Alexey Balyko: “He’s a very tough guy”

John Lineker expects a great performance out of his ONE Fight Night 25 opponent, Alexey Balyko.

Four weeks ago, 'Hands of Stone' made his Muay Thai debut at ONE 168 in 'The Mile High City' of Denver, Colorado and delivered a show-stealing performance against 'The American Ninja' Asa Ten Pow.

Now, Lineker is jumping right back into the fire for a bantamweight scrap in the 'art of eight limbs' with Russian knockout artist Alexey Balyko inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Having won three out of four inside the circle, Balyko has shown flashes of brilliance. John Lineker fully expects the 31-year-old veteran to deliver another strong showing when the two heavy hitters collide on martial arts' biggest global stage:

"He's a very tough guy and he'll definitely try to put on a great performance in our fight," Lineker told the promotion during a recent interview.

Overall, Balykho has 23 wins to his credit, including a pair of nasty knockouts against Suakim Sor Jor Tongprajin and Stefan Korodi in ONE Championship.

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John Lineker is still prioritizing MMA over Muay Thai

Before making the move to Muay Thai, John Lineker was and still is one of the most dangerous bantamweights in all of mixed martial arts, having earned KOs against the likes of Kevin Belingon, Troy Worthen, Bibiano Fernandes, and Kim Jae Woong.

Along the way, 'Hands of Stone' claimed the ONE bantamweight MMA world championship — a belt he has every intention of getting back despite his recent excursion into the 'art of eight limbs':

"My main focus is still in MMA," Lineker said during last month's press conference in Denver. "But I want to say thank you to ONE Championship for giving me this opportunity to fight here in Muay Thai, but my focus is on MMA."

ONE Fight Night 25 will air live via Amazon Prime Video in the United States and Canada on Friday, October 4 in U.S. primetime.