John Lineker had a good childhood and grew up in a happy family

'Hands of Stone' John Lineker was born in the town of Paranaguá, Brazil. While his family may not have had everything growing up, the veteran MMA fighter explained that they were happy.

The father-of-five spoke to ONE Championship in an interview and said:

"We were happy children. We played a lot in the street, close to our house. The place where we lived was very humble, but we had a lot of fun on the street, in the rain, stepping in the mud. Our family life was very good. Despite not having much, we were happy."

John Lineker has spent his life in combat sports. He began training after being inspired by boxing world champion Acelino 'Popó' Freitas and PRIDE FC world champion Wanderlei Silva, both from Brazil.

Speaking in an interview with MMA Sucka, 'Hands of Stone' explained:

"I was inspired by Acelino “Popó” Freitas (four-time boxing world champion). He was my great inspiration for me to start practicing a sport. Then, in MMA, it was Wanderlei Silva. His aggressive style, a guy who really threw down… He was my biggest inspiration in MMA."

John Lineker will look to defeat the dangerous striker 'Wonder Boy' Fabricio Andrade when the two battle for the vacant ONE bantamweight world title. The matchup will headline ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 24. All the action on this Friday's card will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers across North America.

---

John Lineker discusses Fabricio Andrade

Brazil's 'Hands of Stone' John Lineker captured the ONE bantamweight crown last year when he knocked out the record-setting world champion, Bibiano Fernandes. This match was followed by a war against 'Wonder Boy' Andrade, which ended in an unfortunate No Contest.

On how challenging of a matchup this was, Lineker said that Andrade is the hardest opponent of his career. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Lineker said:

“I've had many tough fights. So I can say that Andrade was one of the toughest challenges I faced. I've already had quite tough fights, but Andrade gave me a lot of work.”

'Hands of Stone' and 'Wonder Boy' will battle at ONE Fight Night 7 in the February 24 headlining fight. The prestigious ONE bantamweight crown will be looking for a king in this dangerous showdown.