Fabricio Andrade will fight for the ONE Championship bantamweight title Friday even though John Lineker missed weight and was stripped of the belt, and he has a bold prediction for the contest in Malaysia.
Speaking on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Franca, Andrade doubled down on his claim that Lineker has been avoiding him for years. Andrade isn’t convinced that Lineker is afraid, but he is aware of the bad matchup style. “He’s very predictable .”
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” We know his style. He throws his hands in the air and attempts to knock it out,” Andrade stated. Nobody knows what I will do. With a punch or knee, I can take [someone] out in a split second. Everything is possible for me. It’s not difficult for me .”
to control the distance and reach.
Lineker said on Trocacao Franca he “made sure to annul his strong points [in camp] and use my boxing the best and smartest way,” predicting he will win by third-round knockout.
” I’m far smarter than him when it comes to striking,” Andrade stated. I’ll be able turn his greatest weapon against him. Since he comes forward a lot, I can use that timing to knock him out with a knee or an elbow. He has no chance if he stays on the outside because he’s very short. He has to come in to hit me, and when he does, my timing is great. There’s no way out for him. He’ll either stay on the outside and get beat up there, or come in and eat knees and elbows.”
Facing Lineker has been a goal of Andrade for a while. He started campaigning for the match-up via social media long before “Hands of Stone” knocked out Bibiano Florandes for the bantamweight title in March. Andrade can now win the belt, which is vacant.
“It’s been a while since I asked to fight Lineker because I knew he was the toughest guy in this division since he made the move from the UFC,” Andrade said. It was something I had in my head, and I wanted it to happen. So I feel normal because it did. He’ll continue to be the toughest guy in the division at ONE, outside of myself, when I beat him.
” I called him after my one-time debut, because I was certain that we would eventually fight. When I called him, he didn’t respond. When the Russian and Korean called him, he responded, but never replied to me. Even when I was knocking everyone out. He knew that I was going to fight for my belt, and tried to find another fight. He’s been avoiding me, trying to defend his belt against somebody else.”
