After being unexpectedly cut by the UFC just this week, bantamweight John Lineker has signed with ONE Championship.
MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz first reported the signing by ONE Championship. John Lineker then added this statement on Twitter.
“ I will answer all the questions out there about myself in the Ring! People will be changing the channel to watch me fight! I will continue to do what I love! Fight and put on a show! Thank you 1 for having me! @Alexdavismma @ONEChampionship
— John Lineker (@johnlineker) July 8, 2019
John Lineker has had an eventful few weeks. In early June, Lineker signed on to fight Rob Font at UFC Greenville on just over two weeks’ notice. The Brazilian didn’t make it to fight night, as a cut above his eyebrow the day before weigh-ins forced him out of the contest.
Two weeks after that debacle, the UFC released him from his contract. That was five days ago, so it didn’t take long for the fan-favorite to find a new home, signing a multi-fight deal with Asia-based promotion ONE Championship. He will fight at 145-pounds, which is what ONE considers bantamweight under their weight-cutting rules.
While Lineker was a fan-favorite in the cage, with four performance bonuses to his name, he was certainly a headache for the UFC. “Hands of Stone” missed weight five times, one of which was after he moved back up to bantamweight from flyweight. He also pulled out of three bouts with illnesses since 2016. The Brazilian also called for more fights on Twitter, telling the promotion to release him if they didn’t want to offer fights more often.
My last opponent fought 4 times in a year. He already has another fight! Sean likes him! I have fought only 4 times since 2016! I need to fight! If you dont like me or my style just let me go!!! @MMAjunkie @seanshelby @danawhite @Alexdavismma @ufc @MMAFighting @sherdogdotcom
— John Lineker (@johnlineker) May 29, 2019
Now he joins ONE Championship and will certainly take advantage of their weight-cutting rules. Lineker is the latest big signing by ONE in 2019, joining Eddie Alvarez, Demetrious Johnson, Sage Northcutt, Yushin Okami, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and more as the promotion looks to have a huge year.
