The sophomore effort of John Lineker in ONE Championships flew a bit under the radar. Nevertheless he was able to secure a second straight win in the promotion, after taking out a former champion.
For a time, Lineker was considered the hardest puncher in the UFC’s bantamweight division. Win or lose, and he usually won, he was always there to scrap and push the pace of any fight. That is why it was somewhat surprising when he was released by the promotion, signing with Singapore-based ONE Championships. However he continued to deliver under this new banner, beating Muin Gafurov by decision in his promotional debut.
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John Lineker TKOs Kevin Belingon
In his second outing in ONE Championships, John Lineker took on former bantamweight champ Kevin Belingon, in Friday’s morning hours in the U.S. Things would go according to plan for the Brazilian, as he hurt Kevin on the feet, before finishing him with punches on the ground. ONE Championships uploaded the second round TKO finish to their Twitter, so have a gander at it below.
John Lineker 🇧🇷 KNOCKS OUT Kevin Belingon in Round 2! @johnlineker #InsideTheMatrix3 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/V3FbwKINd9
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 13, 2020
This was a massive win for Lineker, promoting him to 2-0 in the organization. Not only that, but it likely sets him up for a title fight with divisional champ Bibano Fernandes, who took the title from Belingon back in March of 2019. A clash between these two talents would be interesting to see, and frankly it could go either way.
It is good to see John Lineker finding success in this new organization. Not every UFC fighter to go to Singapore has had the type of run that he has gone on. Perhaps this will open the door for a big championship fight down the road, which would be the first title shot he has gotten in a major promotion.
