“That fight should’ve been over” - A second knee strike to the body from Andrade would’ve finished Lineker, says Stephen Loman

Rising star Stephen Loman believes Fabricio Andrade was just a few inches away from becoming the ONE bantamweight world champion at ONE on Prime Video 3.

‘The Sniper’, who is currently ranked No.5 in the bantamweight rankings, watched intently as Andrade’s supposed crowning moment against John Lineker turned into arguably the most disappointing ending in his promising MMA career.

After blasting ‘Hands of Stone’ with a picture-perfect knee to the body that had him retreating in pain in round three, ‘Wonder Boy’ went to finish the job with another follow-up blow to the body.

However, unlike his initial strike, which cleanly struck Lineker’s abdomen, the second knee accidentally landed low and hit the former world champion in the nether regions.

The shot was so hard that it broke Lineker’s groin cup and rendered him unable to continue, which resulted in an unfortunate no-contest ruling.

As far as Stephen Loman sees it, Andrade undoubtedly would have been the world champion by now had that knee landed just a few inches upward to its intended target.

In a recent interview with The MMA Super-Fan, the Filipino warrior claimed that the 25-year-old was on the verge of handing Lineker the first knockout loss of his career:

“The first knee really did hurt Lineker, and it hurt him a lot. So if Andrade’s second knee strike landed on Lineker’s torso, then that fight should’ve been over.”

In the lead-up to that massive firefight, Andrade vowed to outclass his hard-hitting foe and become the first man to beat him inside the circle.

The Tiger Muay Thai standout definitely walked the talk with his near-perfect performance against the ultra-tough Lineker. Unfortunately, the unlucky break cost him the world title and the bantamweight throne remains vacant for now.

Loman, on the other hand, also has his sights on the 145-pound gold strap. The Team Lakay fighter could potentially be next in line for a world title if he gets past Bibiano Fernandes at ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs Lee on November 18 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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Stephen Loman believes John Lineker tried his best to keep fighting after low blow

Stephen Loman is no stranger to the magnitude of world title fights, considering he held belts in previous promotions before signing with ONE Championship. As such, he knows a true warrior like John Lineker will not quit easily when faced with adversity.

Contrary to Andrade’s claims that his fellow Brazilian took the easy way out after that unintentional foul, Loman thinks Lineker was in such excruciating pain that he could not continue fighting.

‘The Sniper’ explained in the same interview:

"That knee strike was really unexpected, and it did hit Lineker on the groin so you can’t really fault him for using up the whole recovery time. It was a low blow and even though it was an accident, you can really feel how much that hurt Lineker.”

Watch Stephen Loman’s full interview below: