Stephen Loman looks back at John Lineker loss, regrets not changing game plan: “He was on a different level”

Regret is a terrible thing to deal with, especially if success was right at your fingertips. Such was the case for no.2-ranked ONE bantamweight MMA contender ‘The Sniper’ Stephen Loman in his last fight.

The Team Lakay veteran fought at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video a few weeks ago, for a chance to challenge reigning king Fabricio ‘Wonder Boy’ Andrade for his belt. Unfortunately, Loman fell just short of victory.

‘The Sniper’ battled former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion ‘Hands of Stone’ John Lineker, but lost a close unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards when it was all said and done.

Looking back at the defeat, Loman believes there were a few things he left in the Circle that night that he wishes he could get back. Speaking to YouTube channel, The MMA Superfan, in a recent interview, the Team Lakay standout aired his regret.

‘The Sniper’ said:

“I should have imposed my wrestling more. I should have timed it better and not allowed him to defend. I should have pushed the pace more. My counter striking, too. I feel like I could have done a better job. But to [Lineker’s] credit, he was on a different level.”

With the victory, Lineker is now likely to move on to a highly anticipated third showdown with Andrade for the bantamweight throne. It was Loman’s opportunity to cement his world title opportunity, but ‘Hands of Stone’ snatched it from the Filipino’s grasp.

Lineker is 0-1, 1 NC against Andrade, and a third fight for the belt could even up the score between the two Brazilians.

ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham took place live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on September 30th. Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of the event via replay on demand on Amazon Prime Video.