“He tried to avoid this fight” - Fabricio Andrade says he "forced" John Lineker to face him by winning

Heavy-hitting ONE bantamweight world title contender Fabricio Andrade hasn't held back from criticizing the world champion, John Lineker. Aside from calling out 'Hands of Stone' a one-dimensional striker, 'Wonder Boy' also suggests that the bantamweight king has been ducking him.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Andrade spoke about how his path inevitably converged with Lineker despite 'Hands of stone' allegedly avoiding the same:

“I won this chance to fight for the belt. Nobody gave it to me. Due to my performances, [Lineker] had the opportunity to speak up and say that he wanted to face me, but even after I finished three contenders in the first round, he didn’t say that I was the number-one contender to fight for the belt."

Fabricio Andrade concluded with:

“So it just goes to show that he tried to avoid this fight by all means. Now he’s practically being forced to fight me, and that doesn’t change the fact that he tried to run and avoid this fight with me.”

Regardless of whether Andrade's speculations about Lineker are true or not, what matters is that he'll finally be able to settle the score with the world champion.

Come October 21, at ONE on Prime Video 3, the two knockout kings will collide in what could be the most explosive world title showdown in ONE Championship this year.

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Fabricio Andrade promises to finish John Lineker in the first round

Seemingly fueled by the belief that John Lineker has been ducking him, Fabricio Andrade is adamant about swiftly finishing the fight. Soon after the fight was made official, Andrade took to Instagram to make a bold prediction:

"2 long years on the hunting but I can’t blame the man for running from me I am actually happy he got to be world champion before our fight. But I know, he knows and the fans know it Joh lineker is going to sleep inside of a round and now is just matter of time! #ANDNEW #mainevent #wonderboy #onechampionship #oneonprimevideo3"

If Andrade is gunning to take out Lineker early, we're positive that the world champ will do the same. Imagine two heavy-handed strikers going toe-to-toe in the middle of the circle, trying to knock each other out.

The collision between the two bantamweight knockout artists is bound to produce one of the most exciting world title bouts in ONE Championship.