John Lineker’s reign of terror continues in his new home at ONE Championship.
In his third promotional appearance, Lineker used effective bodywork throughout the opening round, leading to a big knockdown and a fight that ended the right hand of an established Troy Worthen, who pronounced him cold on the 4: 35- point of ONE’s first round main event on TNT 3. With its second consecutive finish, the Brazilian powerhouse has improved to 3-0 under the ONE banner since moving from the UFC.
Lineker dug to the body of Worthen with powerful blows to start the battle. After a brief interruption in the action due to an accidental low blow, Lineker continued to direct the midsection and legs of Worthen. Worthen showed less than 90 seconds the effects of Lineker’s works with fields on his middle piece. Worthen would hang tough, but every time he strikes a strike, Lineker always responds with a barrage of body shots. ‘Hands of Stone’ started firing at Worthen’s face as the opening round continued before briefly dropping the American with a bonehead.
With just over 30 seconds left in the first, Lineker landed a piston from a right hand to drop Worthen. A follow-up right-hand man puts Worthen out.
After the victory, Lineker announced the current bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes.
“I came here to be a champion,” Lineker said. ‘I want Bibiano to show that I’m better than he is, and that I’m the best in the world.
The main card broadcast on TNT opened with a flyweight fight between Reece McLaren and Yuya Wakamatsu. The Japanese standout fired heavy shots to end the fight quickly. McLaren was able to get through Wakamatsu’s aggressive start, concluding the opening round with full mountain work, hard elbows and several submission attempts.
Wakamatsu turned things on again for the second time and McLaren had trouble on their feet. McLaren would start third to get the fight on the mat, but Wakamatsu showed excellent defensive defense, making McLaren pay every chance, including a few angry knees in the final 30 seconds of the fight. After 15 minutes, all the judges saw it for Wakamatsu.
In the final round, Ok Rae Yoon won with Marat Gafarov. With his third consecutive victory, South Korean fighter Eddie Alvarez, the former UFC lightweight champion, will face off during the ONE on TNT 4 event next week.
Get full ONE on TNT 3 results below:
Defeat John Lineker. Troy Worthen via KO (beats) – Round 1, 4:35
Defeat Yuya Wakamatsu. Reece McLaren unanimously
Preliminary map
Ok defeat Rae Yoon. Marat Gafarov by unanimous decision
Defeat Miao Li Tao. Ryuto Sawada by unanimous decision
Defeat Nieky Holzken. John Wayne Parr via KO (kick) – Round 2, 1:23 (muay Thai)