WATCH: John Lineker gets his ‘Hands of Stone’ ready for his rematch against Fabricio Andrade at ONE Fight Night 7

Ahead of his rematch with Fabricio Andrade, John Lineker has been putting in the work behind the scenes before he steps foot inside the circle at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video.

February 24 is a huge day in the career of John Lineker. The former bantamweight world champion may not have lost his first fight with Andrade, but it was not his finest performance.

After ‘Wonder Boy’ had dominated the majority of the striking exchanges between the two Brazilians, the fight ended in a no contest after Lineker couldn’t continue from an unintentional low blow.

Crucially for Lineker, he was unable to implement his signature gameplan in the fight. Andrade’s speed and range stopped the former champion from being able to pressure him around the cage and land his devastating power.

In a recent video posted by ONE Championship, Lineker can be seen working on his frightening hand speed:

The caption posted alongside the video references his nickname, ‘Hands of Stone’. Through his extensive career in MMA, Lineker has finished 17 of his wins by way of knockout. If he is able to land on Fabricio Andrade, we could be looking at a totally different fight the second time around.

Fans in North America can find out by watching the event live and for free on Prime Video with an active Amazon subscription.

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John Lineker says his love for fighting led to his dream of becoming a professional

John Lineker was motivated to try and make a living competing in combat sports after watching the success of one of his biggest inspirations, Acelino ‘Popó’ Freitas.

The former bantamweight world champion frequently got into fights during his upbringing in Brazil. Whilst he engaged in boxing, he never saw a career coming out of it. Everything changed for Lineker after he picked up a newspaper, which featured an article on Brazilian boxing champion Acelino 'Popó' Freitas.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Lineker reminisced about his motivation to become a professional mixed martial artist. He said:

“That impacted me. It generated a fire in my heart, something very strong. And that ended up becoming my wish, it became my dream. I already liked to fight, so having martial arts as a lifestyle to support my family was something that really moved me. I started practicing boxing soon after I read this article.”

Freitas became a source of inspiration thanks to achieving success in boxing and becoming the WBO lightweight world champion in 2004. Coming from a similar background to Lineker, he also shared a similar fighting style with 34 knockouts under his belt.

No doubt John Lineker’s success in MMA will have also motivated people who, just like he did, look up to their sporting idols for inspiration.