Lineker-Andrade ONE Bantamweight Title Rematch Rescheduled For Late February

Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans will need to extend their patience a little bit more to see how the rematch between John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade will play out as ONE Championship revealed a new date for their clash.

Originally scheduled for February 10 (February 11 in Southeast Asia), ONE Fight Night 7 will now take place on February 24 (February 25 in Southeast Asia) at the hallowed grounds of Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Lineker and Andrade's initial meeting at ONE Fight Night 3 in Malaysia last October 2022 featured a high-octane bout that saw both men rock each other with one of the best striking showcases ONE Championship has seen in recent memory.

Lineker, who vacated the ONE bantamweight title prior to the fight after missing the 145-pound weight limit by 0.75 pounds, was initially to get into an exchange with his younger fellow Brazilian since Andrade also carries massive knockout power.

But as the fight wore on, it was "Wonder Boy" who got the better of the stand-up exchanges, bloodying "Hands of Stone" by the end of the second round plus a massive mouse under his right eye.

In that same vein, Lineker was able to capitalize on his strong ground game and landed massive shots of his own from top position to get Andrade rethinking his strategy.

Just when Andrade had the advantage and was close to getting a possible knockout finish against the resilient former champ, a wayward knee to the body found Lineker's groin instead and left him on the ground writhing in pain.

The fight was ruled a no-contest as Lineker, whose cup was smashed by the knee strike and he was unable to continue.

A few days after an unfortunate ending to their ONE bantamweight title tilt, Andrade had some fighting words for the former champion, believing that Lineker opted to escape the bout instead of finishing it.

"Honestly, I don't think it was enough to make him stop the fight but he knew I'd just [hurt] him with a body knee. He took the easy way out," Andrade claimed at the time.

Aside from the date and venue change, it can be expected that no love has been lost between both men when they step into the cage once again in late February.

The co-main event for ONE on Prime Video 7 will have the newly-crowned ONE featherweight Muay Thai champion and Thailand's very own Tawanchai PK.Saenchai defend his title against Turkey's Jamal Yusupov.