“His cup is broken. His cup has been shattered.”
Those were the words from the ONE on Prime Video 3 broadcast booth as John Lineker writhed in pain on the mat after taking a hard knee to the groin from Fabricio Andrade. And it was true: The knee was so hard that Lineker removed his broken cup from his shorts.
The illegal blow also abruptly ended Friday night’s main event in Kuala Lumpur as Lineker couldn’t continue, declaring the fight a no contest. With Lineker already stripped of the bantamweight title after missing weight, the result also meant that Andrade – who was still eligible to win the title – couldn’t walk away with the gold.
Not an ideal conclusion for either man, but especially Andrade who might’ve been on his way to a finish after hurting Lineker with a perfectly legal knee before following up too low.
From near finish to no contest 😬#ONEonPrimeVideo3 #ONEChampionship
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch live on @primevideo 👉 https://t.co/6dyfTyGn7f
🌍 Watch live 👉 https://t.co/8MeKhRvqhy pic.twitter.com/8MYHA0wDDF— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 22, 2022
Andrade (8-2) got out to a great start in Round 1 when he started touching up Lineker (35-9) with an assortment of jabs and straight lefts, one of which staggered Lineker. Just as Andrade started to pour it on, Lineker turned into a wrestler and came up with a critical takedown that may have saved him. He controlled Andrade until about a minute remained, and Andrade was back to using his noticeable reach advantage to pelt Lineker with punches. Lineker’s response was to wing overhand punches, and a left caught Andrade before the round ended.
Early in Round 2, Lineker landed a nice combo of four hooks to the body and face. Lineker shot in for a takedown and ate a knee on the way in. When Andrade found his way back to his feet, Lineker continued with his attack, but a key moment came while they were standing, as Andrade landed a hard straight left hand that caused Lineker’s already damaged right eye to close. That allowed Andrade to repeatedly connect in the final minute, which left Lineker with bad swelling. Still, the cageside doctor allowed him to continue.
Round 3, though, didn’t last long. Andrade landed a hard knee to the stomach that hurt Lineker, but when he backed up to the cage, Andrade threw the fateful low blow that ended the fight.
