Kulabdam pinpoints his "extra motivation" that helped him survive John Lineker's violence: "I couldn't lose this fight"

The presence of his loved ones became the extra fire that Thai star Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai used to power his way into a come-from-behind victory against John Lineker in their Muay Thai battle inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 10.

Kulabdam shared this during his post-event interview and revealed:

"What gave me extra motivation were my sons and my family. Both of my sons were at the stadium, cheering for me, and also all my family was here. So I think it was like seven or eight years since they last came here. So I think that I couldn't lose this fight."

'Left Meteorite' shrugged off the first-round knockdown he sustained from Lineker and dominated the next two rounds to snag the win from the former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion and snap his perfect streak in Muay Thai.

Simultaneously, Kulabdam collected his second straight triumph after knocking out Suablack To Pran 49 in September 2024 at ONE Friday Fights 81. This also marked his ninth win in 14 bouts under the world's largest martial arts organization.

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Kulabdam answered critics about his victory over John Lineker, saying he was the more accurate fighter

When Dom Lau announced the Sor Jor Piek Uthai representative's name as the winner after his fight with 'Hands of Stone,' several fans raised their eyebrows and thought that Lineker's knockdown was more significant to get him the win.

But the Thai fighter responded to these criticisms by explaining why he deserved this dub. He opened up about this during his post-fight interview with the Bangkok Post:

"I think we all have different opinions. I think this is divided into two parts - either they think John won or I won. The thing is, I know that getting a knockdown would score two points, but then I got back up. And in the second and third rounds, I did everything I could. I threw everything I had and I also had better accuracy, so that was why I won."

Check out the full interview below:

North Americans with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action via the free event replay.