ONE Championship: Fabricio Andrade promises to finish ‘easy opponent’ John Lineker in first round
- Andrade burst into title contention with body shot stoppage of Kwon Won-il at ONE 158 in Singapore this month
- The 24-year-old Thailand-based Brazilian believes bantamweight champ is a limited fighter – ‘this guy can’t touch me’
Fabricio Andrade believes he can finish ONE Championship bantamweight king John Lineker – and that he can do it easily.
Brazil’s Andrade, 24, cemented himself as one of the Asian martial arts promotion’s top bantamweights when he stopped fellow contender Kwon Won-il with a kick to the body earlier this month. While nothing has been confirmed just yet, that victory could earn him a crack at his fellow Brazilian Lineker, who knocked out the great Bibiano Fernandes to win the bantamweight belt in March.
The Phuket, Thailand-based Andrade (8-2) has already sized up the 33-year-old champion, and he is not impressed, to say the least.
“This guy can’t touch me,” he told the Post from Thailand on Friday morning. “He’s so small. He can’t touch me. I’m not talking [expletive]. I’m not disrespecting him. I’m saying what I believe: I’m going to finish him in the first round, and that’s a fact.”
Lineker (35-9) is known as one of the most dangerous punchers in MMA, regardless of weight division – a reputation that earned him the nickname “Hands of Stone”. But Andrade, who has competed extensively in Muay Thai and kickboxing, has proven himself as one of the most venomous strikers in the game.
Andrade recognises that Lineker packs some power, but believes his versatility makes him a more dangerous striker than the champion.
“I can punch, I can kick, I can elbow, I can knee, and I’m smart,” he said.