Stephen Loman Expects To Face John Lineker Next If He Wins At ONE X

As he crosses paths with a high-caliber opponent in his return to action on Saturday, March 26, Filipino hard-hitter Stephen Loman sees a huge payoff if he plays his cards right.

The former BRAVE CF bantamweight champion is slated to lock horns with ex-Shooto titleholder Shoko Sato on the supporting card of ONE X—ONE Championship’s 10th-anniversary offering—set to happen at the 12,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Sato was originally penciled to take on Yusup Saadulaev, but ONE Championship had to remove the latter from the scheduled bout due to the Singapore government’s mandate that bans Russian athletes from competing in the city-state.

As a result, Loman accepted the offer to fill in for Saadulaev and face Sato at the aforementioned event.

Loman—who’s ranked No. 3 in the promotion’s bantamweight division—hopes that a decisive victory over Sato will move him closer to a shot at the ONE bantamweight championship, which is now in the possession of UFC veteran John Lineker after dethroning longtime kingpin Bibiano Fernandes earlier this month.

“A big win against Shoko Sato will definitely move me up the rankings,” the Team Lakay representative told International Business Times sports editor and combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano in an exclusive interview. “I just need to focus on my game.”

Known for his versatility inside the cage, Sato has been a constant threat to any opponent since he arrived in the Singapore-based outfit in 2019 by virtue of the talent-sharing agreement that Shooto entered into with ONE Championship.

The Japanese stalwart has played a spoiler in the momentum-building bids of Filipino-Kiwi standout Mark Abelardo, Pancrase bantamweight titlist Rafael Silva and South Korean knockout artist Kwon Won Il—getting his hand raised without the help of the three judges at cageside in all of those assignments.

His streak of amazing finishes rightfully earned him a spot in the bantamweight rankings, but his tenure in the Top Five hit a roadblock when he succumbed to a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Brazilian prospect Fabricio Andrade in February 2021.

To compound Sato’s misery, the 65.8-kilogram weight class underwent major shakeup as Loman entered the picture with his emphatic knockout victory over Saadulaev as well as Kwon’s upset of former champion Kevin Belingon.

Sato has the chance to re-establish himself in the ladder of the top bantamweights with a win at ONE X, making it a must-win encounter for Loman.

“In this fight, I have to do my best and work really hard to achieve the victory,” Loman said.

The 26-year-old from Baguio City, Philippines acknowledged that he will have his work cut out for him against Sato.

“He (Sato) is slick in his movements, striking, and his takedowns. He is also very good in jiu-jitsu,” Loman assessed.

“I need to see those attacks and counter him. I have the speed as well as the more refined striking combinations. I just need to use my best qualities efficiently against him.”

Loman believes having his standing tall versus a dangerous foe such as Sato will be enough to overtake higher-seeded bantamweight like Fernandes and Kwon in the race to secure a date with Lineker, whom he was supposed to battle in April 2021 before he had to pull out after testing positive for COVID-19.

“I want to win this fight because there’s an opportunity for me to grab, and that opportunity is to fight for the world title. Expect that I will give it my all,” he declared.