Photo provided by ONE Championship Public Relations
John Lineker responds to ground game skepticism ahead of ONE: Lights Out
John Lineker will finally get the opportunity to silence ONE Championship featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes when the meet at ONE: Lights Out this Friday in Singapore.
Lineker was originally scheduled to challenge Fernandes in December 2021 but the event was postponed as COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket. The contest was then rebooked for February 2022 and it was Lineker who has to pull from the title fight after he tested positive for coronavirus himself.
Ahead of their pending fight in just a few short days, Fernandes questioned his opponent’s ground game, stating that Lineker “isn’t very good.”
Lineker provided his response to the champion’s skepticism:
“I’ve been training my ground game a lot, my jiu jitsu, my wrestling, and today, I feel very confident,” Lineker said. “If I get taken down, I feel confident to work my ground game. I still haven’t been able to show my evolution in jiu-jitsu in my last fights because they’ve ended up standing up, by knockout. But if I go to the ground, I’ll have the opportunity to show how much I’ve evolved. An MMA fighter needs to have the most complete game possible and I know that I am a complete athlete, that I am prepared to fight both standing and on the ground.”
The March 11 fight card takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
ONE: Lights Out fight card:
Thanh Le vs. Garry Tonon – 155 lbs
Bibiano Fernandes vs. John Lineker – 145 lbs
Martin Nguyen vs. Kiril Gorobets – 155 lbs
Ismael Londt vs. Iraj Azizpour – 265 lbs
Alex Silva vs. Adrian Mattheis – 125 lbs
Josh Tonna vs. Peimian Zhang – 125 lbs
Eko Roni Saputra vs. Chan Rothana – 135 lbs
Iman Barlow vs. Daniela López – 125 lbs
Liam Nolan vs. Kim Kyung Lock – 174 lbs
Heqin Lin vs. Milagros Lopez – 125 lbs
