John Lineker hails Fabricio Andrade’s toughness: “He's a guy who doesn't give up”

Brazilian knockout machine John Lineker lost out in his attempt to reclaim the ONE bantamweight world title and hailed his opponent Fabricio Andrade for showing tremendous toughness to succeed.

'Hands of Stone' fell to 'Wonder Boy' in their rematch for the bantamweight gold at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 24 in Bangkok. Lineker lost by a fourth-round technical knockout as he was unable to go beyond it after absorbing a nasty cut above his right eye.

The top American team fighter came better prepared in the redo and gained some headway early on in the match with solid hits. But Andrade was steadfast and countered with telling strikes of his own, most prominently late in the fourth round, which proved to be decisive.

Following the match, John Lineker credited the durability that Andrade showed en route to winning the world title just as he expressed satisfaction even after losing because they were able to give a good show to the fans.

He told ONE Championship:

“I put a lot of hard blows, knockout blows, that he even rocked, that's why I was very surprised with his absorption of blows. Fabrício is a tough guy and I'm sure we would fight until one of us fell. He's a guy who doesn't give up and I'm a guy who doesn't give up too. In the end, the winners of this war were the fans.”

With Andrade winning the world title, the rivals finally put a dot on their world championship mix-up after their first encounter back in October ended in a no-contest.

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Respect earned: Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker bury the hatchet in hospital

It was biting between Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker in the lead-up to their rematch for the vacant ONE bantamweight world title, but after the battle-smoke cleared, respect emanated from both camps.

The two proud Brazilian warriors buried the hatchet after settling their bantamweight world championship mix-up at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video last weekend in Bangkok, with 'Wonder Boy' Andrade emerging as the new world champion.

“Hands of Stone” Lineker gave everything he had in the rematch but just could not complete the job against a durable opponent who refused to fold despite the heavy blows he received.

The fight concluded right before the start of the fifth and final round after John Lineker’s corner decided to wave the white flag to protect its fighter, who had already absorbed too much damage at that point.

After the fight, John Lineker and Andrade shared a moment in the hospital, where they were taken to be treated after a grueling match and as a safety precaution.

John Lineker’s manager Alex Davis captured what took place between the two fighters and shared it on Twitter with the caption:

"Some criticism about having stopped liniker x Andrade. It was a hard to do, specially it being a title fight. Both johns eyes were closed, I had to take that dec. Safety comes first. Congrats to both men & to Fabricio for winning the title! oss!"

The loss was the first for 'Hands of Stone' in ONE Championship in six matches.