John Lineker isn’t worrying about Fabricio Andrade’s outside-the-cage antics leading up to their rematch for the ONE Championship title Friday in Thailand. He actually finds them amusing.
Andrade said on this week’s episode of the Trocacao Franca podcast he was “surprised” his fellow Brazilian agreed to running it back right after their first bantamweight title bout ended in no-contest due to an accidental low blow.
“My friend’s father told me that John is too crazy to face this man again. Lineker replied on Trocacao Franca . I’m crazy [laughs]. Fabricio, an extremely tough fighter and a skilled one , is a great guy. But I have fought men way more talented than him .
” Fear is a word that I do not know,” he said. “It doesn’t exist in my dictionary and will never exist in my life.”
Lineker jokes that the only concern he has this time is his groin.
“He’s a talented guy, a tough one, so I have to work hard,” Lineker said. “I’ll predict a third-round finish again. And don’t hit me in the nutsack again, Fabricio [laughs].”
“He claimed he would knock me out within the first round. I told him that it wouldn’t happen. I have 50 fights and have only been knocked down once — and came back to win the fight. But for him to knock me out, that would never happen. He was said to have been caught in the third. And look, he kneed my nutsack in the third. He was aware that I would catch him [laughs].”
As for Andrade wearing a shirt with his face on the body of a chicken, Lineker said “I have fun with it.”
” I love to prove people wrong all my life,” Lineker stated. “I’ll show I’m the real champion in this fight, that I’m here for a long reign. I see people saying if I fought Fabricio 10 times it would be the same, but I’ll show it’s going to be completely different.”
Lineker and Andrade compete for the vacant title since “Hands of Stone” missed weight last time around and the bout ended with no winner. UFC Veteran Lineker blames an error in calculation and adds “I’m 100% on point” now.
” I don’t want to make excuses or say that I was not OK but the fact is my head hurt because I lost the title of the scale,” Lineker stated. “That messed me up, given my history [of missing weight in the UFC]. That made me feel bad, the fact I wouldn’t take the title with a win. I am more determined and focused than ever .”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/2/23/23611738/john-lineker-fabricio-andrade-nutsack-again-one-title-rematch?rand=96749
