Not only can newly-crowned ONE bantamweight champion John Lineker dish it out, he can take it too. 'Hands of Stone' isn't just gifted with inhuman power in his hands, he also has a chin of granite.
In a recent YouTube reel shared by ONE, fans saw the Brazilian knockout artist take a full-on side kick to the face from former ONE bantamweight champ Kevin Belingon. If you know the fighting caliber of Belingon, you'd know he can kick a horse out cold with his darting side kicks.
Watch how Lineker just ate the kick here:
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This is what makes fighting John Lineker so dangerous. He can knock someone out senseless at any moment and one can't just hurt him to stop his momentum.
He's like Michael Myers from Halloween or the T-800 from Terminator. You can throw everything you have at him but he's just going to keep on moving forward. You can run but you cannot hide!
John Lineker ushers in a new era after winning the bantamweight belt at ONE: Lights Out
John 'Hands of Stone' Lineker won his first major MMA world title at ONE: Lights Out last May. The Brazilian powerhouse believes that his title win against the then-champion and bitter rival Bibiano Fernandes ushers in a new era.
Fernandes was one of the most dominant champions in ONE Championship history, having had two separate title reigns and a total of eight successful defenses.
John Lineker obliterated the then-champion like no other:
After suffering a knock out in the first round, Lineker came back strong to produce a devastating knockout finish in the second. Speaking to the media after his win, Lineker said:
"Of course, Bibiano will remain in our hearts an eternal champion. But there's a new age now and it's my age. He's a hard guy, and he's remained all this time very proud. He can even come back [even] stronger. But now, I'm here."
Lineker has been on an undefeated run in ONE Championship ever since his debut back in 2019. Three of those four wins came via KO/TKO, including knockouts against former champion Kevin Belingon and the title-winning KO of Bibiano Fernandes.
From the looks of how he's been running through the division, we can say that the 'Lineker era' might very well be at hand.