ONE Championship has a new bantamweight king, and his name is Fabricio Andrade.
Andrade (9-2 MMA, 6-0 ONE) ran it back with John Lineker in a championship rematch in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 7. The event took place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and aired on Amazon Prime Video.
The pair first met with the title on the line in October at ONE on Prime Video 3, with unfortunate events occurring for both parties. First, Lineker (35-10 MMA, 4-1 ONE) lost the title on the scale by missing weight, and then the fight resulted in a no contest after Andrade landed an accidental low blow to Lineker in the third round.
There would be a few differences the second time around. A cage served as the competition enclosure the first time, but in the second meeting, the fight took place in a ring. Most importantly, this time there would be a definitive result.
Big shots were traded early in the first round. Andrade looked for knees up the middle while Lineker swung his patented power hooks. Keeping his opponent guessing, Linker also mixed in a few takedown attempts before going back to his power-punching game, once buckling the legs of his Andrade.
Late in the first though, Andrade landed a series sharp punches to the jaw of Lineker, putting him on wobbly legs, but the end of the round came before a stoppage occurred.
"Wonder Boy" puts "Hands of Stone" ON THE ROPES at the end of a wild Round 1! ⚔️
Tune in to Amazon Prime Video now to catch the rest of the ONE Fight Night 7 card LIVE!#ONEFightNight7
🇺🇸🇨🇦 FREE with a subscription 👉 https://t.co/gtIKS8nVp9
🌍 Live TV broadcast in 170+… https://t.co/PjIdBMj19p pic.twitter.com/T9W8biunEf— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 25, 2023
The firefight continued in the second round.
Lineker landed a powerful punch that sent Andrade to the mat, but he quickly got back to his feet. The striking exchanges continued until the end of the round, with both men landing their share of kicks and punches.
Andrade stuck with quicker, sharper punches up the middle while attempting to defend the hard looping hooks from Lineker. Body shots were in the mix as well for Lineker, but the snappy left jab and kicks from Andrade scored throughout the third too.
A big overhand right from Lineker knocked Andrade off balance early in the fourth, but he was able to recover and get back to working behind the jab. Intense exchanges continued throughout the round. Andrade busted open a cut on the right eye of Lineker, and excelled in the final moments of the frame.
Between rounds, Lineker’s eye was too much of a concern for his corner. Lineker’s coach opted to stop the fight to prevent any further damage, therefore crowning Andrade the new bantamweight champion after the fourth round.
AND NEW! 👑 @fabriciowdb 🇧🇷 dissects John Lineker to force a corner stoppage after Round 4 and claim the ONE Bantamweight World Title!#ONEFightNight7 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/qbFDJ0otua
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 25, 2023
“It’s been a long journey, I’ve been through so much stuff,” Andrade said during his post-fight interview. “Thank you so much, everyone. This is the best day of my life.”
Andrade, 25, claims gold in his eighth consecutive victory, continuing his undefeated run in ONE Championship. His title-winning stoppage of Lineker marked the fifth stoppage with the promotion.
Lineker, 32, walks away with his first defeat under the ONE Championship banner. The UFC veteran won his four previous bouts with the promotion, including a stoppage of Bibiano Fernades last March to win the title.
