John Lineker not looking forward to rematch with Fabricio Andrade just yet

John Lineker has said he’s not looking forward to an immediate rematch with Fabricio Andrade.

Following an inconclusive ending in their first encounter, Lineker suffered defeat by corner stoppage between the fourth and fifth rounds in the rematch at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video.

Much like their first match, Lineker suffered from a badly swollen eye. This prompted his corner to stop the fight, as there was no way he could see out of his right eye.

Before the stoppage, Lineker put up a great fight against Andrade, and it would’ve continued into the championship round had it not been for the injury.

Although fans would like to see the two Brazilians touch gloves again in the future, Lineker doesn’t seem to be in a rush for an immediate rematch. Following the event, ‘Hands of Stone’ told ONE Championship:

“Now I want to recover, rest a little and then I'll talk to my master and my manager. But, without a doubt, I will work to seek another title shot in the future. At the moment, I'm not thinking of having a rematch against Fabrício, but I'm definitely going to work on fighting for the title again.”

The conclusive knockout defeat marked Lineker’s first loss in over three years. Leaving the US for ONE Championship in 2019, the Brazilian veteran made it his mission to capture championship gold in the bantamweight category, and that’s exactly what he did.

Lineker’s career-defining moment arrived when he beat multiple-time ONE bantamweight world champion ‘The Flash’ Bibiano Fernandes by way of a second-round stoppage in March 2022.

The only thing that awaits John Lineker at this point in his career is hope for a new world champion by the end of the year, which could easily turn out to be No. 3-ranked contender ‘The Sniper’ Stephen Loman.

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John Lineker stunned by Fabricio Andrade’s durability and strong will to win

In the aftermath of the fight, John Lineker admitted that he was stunned by Fabricio Andrade’s durability and strong will to succeed.

For someone as young as Andrade, being at the highest level of fighting is a rare sight to behold. Lineker, for one, was impressed that Andrade was still standing even after landing some of his best and most powerful shots throughout the fight.

Following the event, ‘Hands of Stone’ said:

“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.”

Burying the hatchet, John Lineker is looking forward to Fabricio Andrade’s first world title defense with great anticipation before getting himself back into the gym.