John Lineker is really impressed with Kade Ruotolo’s grappling

John Lineker currently has a rematch booked with division rival Fabricio Andrade to crown a new bantamweight world champion in February. However, ‘Hands of Stone’ would like the opportunity to test his skills on the mat someday.

In an interview with ONE Championship, he revealed that he is a big fan of submission grappling sensation Kade Ruotolo and would like to try his hand at grappling inside the circle.

“I think it's really cool to have this submission grappling division, and I want to test myself in grappling. As I said, I don't follow events very much. But a guy who caught my attention a lot is the one with curly hair, Kade Ruotolo.”

Lineker continued, saying:

“He was champion on the same day I fought Fabrício Andrade. This guy is awesome! He knows what he does. He was a guy who stood out and caught my attention a lot.”

The same night that John Lineker headlined ONE on Prime Video 3 with Fabricio Andrade, Kade Ruotolo made history by becoming the first man to capture the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship. Ruotolo defeated Sambo world champion Uali Kurzhev in just over four minutes to capture the title. He went on to successfully defend it six weeks later against IBJJF world champion Matheus Gabriel at ONE on Prime Video 5.

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Testing his submission grappling game isn’t the only thing on John Lineker’s 2023 to-do list

Aside from testing his skills on the mat, John Lineker has big plans for 2023. None bigger than recapturing the ONE bantamweight world championship, of course.

Capturing the title with a spectacular second-round knockout of Bibiano Fernandes in February 2022, ‘Hands of Stone’ lost the title on the scale, failing to make weight for his defense against Fabricio Andrade at ONE on Prime Video 3. Never technically losing the title by losing it to another man, Lineker has every intention of regaining what he believes is still his:

“My goal for next year is to regain the title. I'll take what's mine. And I also want to stay champion, try to do some super-fights with special rules, and maybe try submission grappling. I want to make history. I still have a lot to achieve in my career.”

John Lineker will once again square off against Fabricio Andrade at ONE on Prime Video 7 on February 10, with the bantamweight world title hanging in the balance.