John Lineker reveals his two biggest inspirations as a martial artist

Brazil's John Lineker has been competing on the global stage for over a decade, and he recently shared two of his biggest martial arts inspirations.

'Hands of Stone' is considered one of the best bantamweights on Earth. He possesses a fan-favorite aggressive style, which he claims to have come from a pair of legendary Brazilian fighters. Lineker revealed to MMA Sucka:

"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 is gearing up for his highly-anticipated rematch with Fabricio Andrade at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video. The pair are slated to battle it out for the vacant bantamweight title.

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John Lineker reveals favorite win of his career

The former ONE bantamweight world champion has had numerous memorable victories throughout his storied career. He owns wins over the likes of John Dodson, Marlon Vera, Kevin Belingon, and Bibiano Fernandes, amongst others.

However, it's his title-winning performance last March that really stood out to Lineker. He told MMA Sucka:

“This victory certainly meant a lot to me. Without a doubt it’s my favorite knockout, because it was a great battle for the belt. For all that, I put it as my favorite knockout win. It was a moment of great happiness. It was at that moment that I saw that all my effort and all the battles I had faced up until then was worth it.”

The 32-year-old knocked out former long-time champ Bibiano Fernandes to acquire his first world title.

Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to defend his belt as he missed weight in the lead-up to his first bout with Andrade. Yet, he has the chance to become a world champion once more if he can get past 'Wonder Boy' in the rematch.

Make sure to tune in to ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24 to watch John Lineker rematch Fabricio Andrade for the vacant bantamweight world title live from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. All the action will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers across North America.

Check out John Lineker's massive victory over Bibiano Fernandes below: