John Lineker Inks Deal With ONE Championship
ONE Championship has added another notable name to their roster. According to a report from MMA Fighting, former UFC 135-pound competitor John Lineker has inked a deal with the Singapore-based promotion.
“Hands Of Stone” was recently let go by the UFC after pulling from his scheduled co-main event bout against Rob Font at UFC Greenville. Lineker’s deal with ONE is said to be a multi-fight contract, and his promotional debut has yet to be booked. The Brazilian knockout artist will also be competing as a bantamweight in ONE, however, the promotion’s bantamweight division is contested at 145 pounds.
The 29-year-old had previously been with the UFC since 2012, only losing four times under the promotion’s banner out of his 16 total fights. Of those four losses, Lineker was only finished once. Over the course of his career he has proven himself to be one of the scariest knockout artists in the lighter weight classes of the promotion.
However, he struggled making the bantamweight limit of 136 pounds, as he missed weight several times with the UFC. That, along with pulling out of his recent fight on short-notice, forced the UFC to pull the plug on his run with the promotion:
“I think it was because he hasn’t made weight a few times,” Dana White said, “and I just know that the matchmakers were super frustrated with him. The guy wasn’t being professional.”
What do you think about ONE inking Lineker to a contract?
