MMA News: John Lineker Respected Bibiano Fernandes Until ONE Champion Turned On Him

The next challenger for the ONE bantamweight belt in John Lineker is going all-in on his pursuit of the title that Bibiano Fernandes currently carries, but he revealed that their rivalry started thanks to his compatriot.

"In fact, it was Bibiano [Fernandes] who created this rivalry because there was no rivalry between us. When I posted on my Instagram that I wanted to fight for the title, it wasn’t [necessarily] Bibiano himself. I wanted to fight against the champion because my goal was to fight for the belt,” Lineker explained.

“I wrote that I wanted the opportunity to fight for the title, that it was past time, that I was ready, and that it was my moment. And then he got offended and replied, saying that I wasn’t a professional."

The No. 1-ranked ONE bantamweight contender then told the story of how Fernandes would be willing to fight him on the streets, with Lineker remarking that the way fellow Brazilian reacted was that of a delinquent.

Lineker and Fernandes were originally supposed to fight in December 2021 at ONE X, but the event was postponed due to a spike of COVID-19 cases in Singapore and has since been rescheduled to March 26.

The pair’s disdain for one another spilled out in a media call back in October and both parties bared their frustrations.

Lineker insisted that he still has respect for Fernandes as one of the most important figures in Brazilian MMA for breaking barriers in the Singapore-based MMA promotion.

Despite his admiration for Fernandes, Lineker believes that the 41-year-old’s time at the top is over as he has not stepped inside the ring since 2019 after choking out Team Lakay standout Kevin Belingon.

Of his 34 victories, Lineker knocked out his opponents 16 times which led him to having the moniker of “Hands of Stone” and plans to do the same against Fernandes.

"I’m training to knock him out. As in all my fights, I go to knock out my opponents. I don’t like to leave the decision to the judges. Sometimes, it happens, but I always try to finish the fight before the full fight time," he declared.

Lineker and Fernandes will have their titanic clash in the main event of ONE: Bad Blood, with the ONE interim heavyweight title match between Anatoly Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko as the co-headliner.

ONE: Bad Blood will be streaming live on the ONE Super App and the official ONE Championship YouTube channel at 8:30 PM SGT (7:30 AM ET in the United States) on Friday, February 11.