John Lineker has now booked a rematch with division rival Fabricio Andrade to crown the new Bantamweight World Champion in February. But Hands of Stone hopes to one day have the chance to test their skills on the mat.
In an interview with ONE Championship, he said he’s a huge fan of submission grappling sensation Kade Ruotolo and would love to try grappling within the circle.
“I think it’s really cool to have this submission grappling division and I want to test myself in grappling. Like I said, I don’t follow the event much. But my attention Curly-haired Cade Ruotoro collected them.”
Lineker continued:
“He became champion the same day I fought Fabricio Andrade. This guy is great! He knows what he is doing. was a man.”
On the same night that John Lineker headlined ONE at Prime Video 3 alongside Fabricio Andrade, Kaydel Ruotoro made history by becoming the first man to win the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Championship. Ruotoro defeated Sambo World Champion Uali Kurdjieff in just over four minutes to clinch the title. Six weeks later, he successfully defended against IBJJF World Champion Matheus Gabriel in ONE on Prime Video 5.
Testing submission grappling games isn’t the only thing on John Lineker’s 2023 to-do list.
Beyond putting his skills to the test on the mat, John Lineker has big plans for 2023.
Hands of Stone, who won the title in February 2022 with a spectacular second-round knockout of Bibiano Fernandes, lost the title after failing to add weight to his defense against Fabricio Andrade in ONE. He’s lost his title to another man, but Lineker has every intention of regaining what he still believes is his:
“Next year my goal is to reclaim the title. Try the ring too.I want to make history.I still have a lot of work to do in my career.”
John Lineker will face Fabricio Andrade again on February 10 at ONE on Prime Video 7 for the bantamweight world title.
