John Lineker Eyes Rodtang, Fabricio Andrade Following Victory At ONE Fight Night 25

Add as a preferred source on Google

As many fans expected, former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John Lineker has taken to the Muay Thai world like a duck to water. The Brazilian stormed through Alexey Balyko this past Saturday, 5 October, with another first-round knockout at ONE Fight Night 25.

Lineker's triumph inside Bangkok, Thailand's famed Lumpinee Stadium saw him score his second consecutive knockout in "the art of eight limbs" in just four weeks. The pure striking realm seems to be a perfect match for him. But "Hands of Stone" reaffirmed that his sights are still set elsewhere.

Muay Thai has been a very refreshing change of pace for him after over a decade of MMA competition. But the all-encompassing sport is his bread and butter, and he believes that's where his competitive priorities remain.

"My focus is in MMA, but I'm really enjoying fighting Muay Thai, especially because this is more striking," Lineker said. "I don't need to be very worried when they want to take me down, this kind of thing. But my focus is MMA."

At 34 years old with over 50 professional fights across MMA and Muay Thai, Lineker is still as deadly as they come. And as one of the promotion's standout names and former champs, he sees his immediate future going one of two ways.

Should he return to the all-encompassing sport next, Lineker wants to avenge his ONE Fight Night 7 defeat to reigning ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Fabricio Andrade. The pair have met twice before, and the Brazilian is clearly desperate for redemption.

That said, he could be baited into hanging around in the Muay Thai realm for a little bit longer should he be given his longstanding wish of locking horns with ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

"At this moment, I would like to fight against Rodtang in Muay Thai, and in MMA, I'd like to have a trilogy with Fabricio Andrade," Lineker said. "It doesn't depend on me, it depends on ONE. I've called him out already. So now I need to wait and see if the boss will make it happen."