Stephen Loman believes he has the tools and the talent to cut Fabricio Andrade’s ONE World title run short.
The Team Lakay standout earned his spot as the top contender in the eyes of many with his impressive unanimous decision victory over ONE legend Bibiano Fernandes at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November.
Now that the promotion has a new bantamweight world champion following the events of ONE Fight Night 7 last month, ‘The Sniper’ is preparing for his opportunity to shine in the main event spotlight.
In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Stephen Loman believes he has a skill set capable of besting ‘Wonder Boy’ and bringing gold back to the Philippines.
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Loman said:
“I have some advantages over Fabricio Andrade. I think it’s always my speed and my wrestling. I’ll train very hard for this fight so I can use all my tools to beat him.”
Watching John Lineker’s performance against Andrade, Loman found some inspiration, particularly with the success Lineker had wrestling ‘Wonder Boy’ to the mat.
Of course, keeping Andrade on the ground was much more difficult than getting him there, but Loman believes a blueprint for defeating Andrade has been established. He only needs to execute when the two inevitably meet later this year.
Stephen Loman takes a dig at John Lineker throwing in the towel at ONE Fight Night 7
Despite some early success with his wrestling, John Lineker came up short in his bid to reclaim the ONE bantamweight world championship last month against his Brazilian rival Fabricio Andrade. Suffering a series of devastating strikes in the fourth round, Lineker threw in the towel before the beginning of the fifth round.
Some fans applauded Lineker’s decision to throw in the towel given the amount of damage he had taken, particularly in the previous five minutes.
Others, like Stephen Loman, believe that John Lineker should have continued fighting, as the opportunity to compete for a ONE World Championship is not something that comes along every day.
Loman said:
"If I was in a similar spot, I would do my best to finish the fight. Because chances to compete for the world title don’t come often. Whatever happens, I’ll find a way to end the fight impressively. I would go back to my corner and tell my coaches to let me finish the fight on my own terms."