“Maybe one day we could” - John Lineker ponders uprooting family to move to Thailand to work on his Muay Thai

John Lineker has considered training in Thailand to improve his Muay Thai. Between September 2024 and January 2025, Lineker temporarily left MMA to fight in Muay Thai three times. The Brazilian superstar started with consecutive knockout wins against Asa Ten Pow and Alexey Balyko.

On Jan. 10, 'Hands of Stone' attempted to become a top contender in the bantamweight Muay Thai division against Kulabdam. Unfortunately for Lineker, Kulabdam secured a unanimous decision at ONE Fight Night 27, halting his momentum in "The Art of Eight Limbs."

During an interview with ONE, Lineker had this to say about potentially spending an extended period in Thailand to improve his Muay Thai:

"My wife and I have considered this possibility, but nothing concrete. At the moment I'm thinking about staying in Brazil, doing my training here, and sometimes doing a camp in Thailand. But I am not thinking about moving to Thailand at the moment. Maybe one day we could, I don't mean live there permanently, but spend a long period of time in Thailand."

Before fighting in Muay Thai, John Lineker solidified his legacy in the ONE bantamweight MMA division.

Lineker fought in MMA eight times under the ONE banner, establishing a 6-2 promotional record, including four wins inside the distance.

'Hands of Stone' last fought in the discipline on Jan. 28 when he accepted an open-weight bout against Shinya Aoki on a few hours' notice.

Lineker came up short in his pursuit of greatness at ONE 165 and endured a first-round submission loss against Aoki.

---

John Lineker scheduled to compete in third discipline under the ONE banner

John Lineker's highlight reel in ONE Championship features knockout wins in MMA and Muay Thai. On March 23, 'Hands of Stone' will attempt to secure a finish in a third discipline, as he's scheduled to make his promotional kickboxing debut.

At ONE 172, Lineker looks to put the bantamweight kickboxing division on notice against former world champion Japan's Hiroki Akimoto.

Akimoto plans to end his three-fight losing streak in his home country of Japan.

ONE 172 goes down inside the Saitama Super Arena, with five world title fights and a must-see kickboxing bout between Rodtang and Takeru.