“I work a lot with brute force” - John Lineker shares why his punching power is different in his weight class

John Lineker recently explained how he achieved the punching power you normally don’t find in other bantamweights.

ONE bantamweight world champion John Lineker is indeed one of the hardest-hitting bantamweights in ONE Championship with the ability to knock out tough opponents with a single punch.

Never been KO’d either. He doesn’t expect his challenger, Fabricio ‘Wonder Boy’ Andrade, to be the first man to do it.

Ahead of his first world title clash with Andrade on October 21 at ONE on Prime Video 3, John Lineker was asked by ONE Championship the question that’s always on our minds: what does he do to hit harder than most bantamweights?

'Hands of Stone’ replied:

“When I do weight training, I work a lot with brute force. I finish my camps lifting 150kg [330 pounds] in the bench press, 200kg (440 pounds) in the deadlift, I lift a lot of weight in the biceps curl… I do a very intense period of strength work and I think that's the differential to hit harder than the other bantamweights.

Since moving up a weight class from flyweight to bantamweight, the Brazilian champion hasn’t lost his strength. On the contrary, he’s more lethal today than when he was fighting in top American promotions a few years ago.

He’s racked up four successive wins under the ONE banner with three of the four ending in TKO’s, including a knockout punch victory over Bibiano Fernandes for the bantamweight belt.

Ultimately, Lineker is like a fine wine that gets better with age. Andrade will therefore have his hands full when they meet at the Axiata Arena on October 21.

Watch Lineker's highlights in ONE below:

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John Lineker is happy to bring honor to his nickname after finishing two legends

John Lineker is happy to have lived up to his nickname after defeating two former world champions, Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon, in KO fashion at ONE Championship.

Before capturing the belt earlier this year, Lineker touched gloves with former kingpin Kevin Belingon. From the start, the Brazilian hard-hitter put his game plan to work to intimidate Belingon with his power.

The Filipino legend did well to keep him at bay with strong leg kicks to the body and head, but Lineker proved to be a difficult opponent to shut down. Eventually, Lineker landed a beautiful uppercut to stop ‘The Silencer’ dead in his tracks.

Defeating two legends by way of knockout, one with an uppercut and the other with a left hook, is a major confidence booster. Speaking to ONE Championship in a post-fight interview, John Lineker was reminded of those accomplishments and replied by saying:

“I feel very happy for that unique wonderful moment of my life. It has been incredible to be able to make honor to my nickname, “Hands of Stone’ and I always tell everybody, I always go for the same, I always go for a knockout.”