IT’S safe to say that top-ranked bantamweight MMA contender John “Hands of Stone” Lineker is really enjoying his time doing Muay Thai.
Just a month after making his scintillating debut in “The Art of Eight Limbs,” Lineker was back at it again, this time knocking out Alexey Balyko in the first round of the bantamweight Muay Thai match at ONE Fight Night 25: Nicolas vs. Eersell II last Saturday inside the revered Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Brazilian was all action in that fight, scoring three knockdowns in less than three minutes – which included the coup-de-grace with seconds remaining in the round.
While he wants to mark an eventual comeback in MMA, he stated how he’s loving his time in Muay Thai so far.
“My focus is in MMA, but I’m really enjoying fighting in Muay Thai, you know, especially because this is more striking. So I don’t need to be very worried when they want to take me down, this kind of thing. But my focus is MMA,” he said.
“Now I think about getting some rest and after that, maybe in March next year I will come back to fight in MMA.”
Immediately after the fight, he called out longtime ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon for a possible super fight showdown between a heavy hitter and one of the sturdiest chins in the game.
He believes he’s already voiced out his intention to fight the Thai superstar, and it’s all up to the promotion now if that’s a fight they want to happen.
“It doesn’t depend on me, it depends on ONE. I’ve called [him out] already. So now I need to wait to see if the boss will make this happen,” he said.
With two back-to-back knockouts already in the discipline, there shouldn’t be any surprise to what “Hands of Stone” will have his eyes on if he does lock horns with the Jitmuangnon Gym star down the road.
“I always go up there for the knockout, to fight, to win, and with Rodtang, it wouldn’t be different. I would go there to fight for the win.”
