Fabricio Andrade captures ONE Championship title after John Lineker’s corner stops fight in late rounds

After five long months, Fabricio Andrade finished what he started.

Andrade captured the ONE Championship bantamweight title with an electric performance over John Lineker on Friday night in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 7, which took place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Andrade (9-2, 1 NC) battered and repeatedly rocked his Brazilian countryman with a barrage of piston-fast jabs and body work until Lineker’s corner mercifully stopped the bout heading into the final round.

” “I don’t know what to say,” Andrade, an emotional woman, said in tears. It’s been a very long road, through so many difficult things in my life. But, I have the desire to become world champion and change the lives of my family and myself. .”

Andrade and Lineker (35-10, 1 NC) previously met this past October in a bout Andrade was winning prior to landing an illegal third-round knee to the groin at ONE on Prime Video 3, which ultimately led to a no contest. Lineker lost his ONE Championship bantamweight title, after unceremoniously losing weight by. 75 pounds.

History was a familiar theme throughout Friday’s rematch. Andrade, 25, was consistently one step ahead of his 32-year-old foe, cracking Lineker with straight punches, knees up the middle, and hard counterstrikes. Andrade nearly ended Lineker’s night early with a massive right hand that put the former champ on wobbly legs at the end of the opening round. He then sent Lineker into survival mode again late in the fourth with another heavy salvo.

While Lineker was able to occasionally find a home for his trademark looping hooks, none of the power punches appeared to faze Andrade — though they did earn his respect.

“Man. He came to fight,” Andrade stated of Lineker. He was afraid of the first fight. He came for this fight. You could see, I’ve got a lot of damage [on my face].”

The bout marked Lineker’s first loss since his UFC exit in 2019, while Andrade extended his own unbeaten streak to nine straight, including a seven-fight run in ONE Championship.

In his post-fight interview, Andrade called for his first title defense to come against Stephen Loman, the 27-year-old who upset ex-champ Bibiano Fernandes this past November.

Complete ONE on Prime Video 7 results can be seen below.

Main Card

• Fabricio Andrade def. John Lineker via TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 4
• Tawanchai P.K.Saenchai def. Jamal Yusupov via KO (leg kick) at :49 of Round 1 — ONE featherweight Muay Thai championship bout
• Martin Nguyen def. Leonardo Casotti via unanimous decision
• Saemapetch Fairtex def. Zhang Chenglong via unanimous decision – kickboxing bout
• Danny Kingad def. Eko Roni Saputra via unanimous decision
• Danielle Kelly def. Ayaka Miura via unanimous decision — submission grappling bout
• Francesco Xhaja def. Andrei Stoica via split decision — kickboxing bout

Preliminary Card

• Victoria Souza def. Linda Darrow via unanimous decision
• Uali Kurzhev def. Tommy Langaker via submission (heel hook) at 2:58 — submission grappling bout
• Adrian Mattheis def. Zelang Zhaxi via TKO (punches) at 0:57 of Round 1

Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/2/25/23614426/fabricio-andrade-captures-one-championship-title-after-john-linekers-corner-stops-fight-late-rounds?rand=96749