That series saw him stripped of the belt on the scale, compete in a no-contest, and then get finished in an all-out war to the now-champion, his first loss in ONE Championship. Lineker’s opponent for his rebound fight, the unranked Kim, came into this bout having lost three of his last four fights and holding a 4-4 record in the promotion.

Both men were patient to start the fight, largely trading nothing but low kicks in the opening minute. Right after that opening minute Kim ducked down for a double leg and landed it against the ropes. Lineker held him in a guillotine but he did not really have it to a threatening degree; Kim was content to relax with his head tied up until he freed himself soon after and dropped down some sharp elbows. Lineker tried to wrestle up but Kim stayed heavy on top and forced John to give up his back momentarily.

Lineker bailed on the get-up and returned to half-guard. Kim landed more solid ground strikes as Lineker worked to get up, giving up the back again and returning to half-guard again. The damage piled up as Jae Woong Kim never was content to just control the Brazilian; he constantly worked to get to a place where he could ran down strikes. Suddenly, with thirty seconds left in the round Lineker executed a half-guard sweep with his famous brute strength. He ended up in top half but only got off one really damaging shot before the bell.

Lineker wasted no time in round two, swinging for the fences and taking Kim off his feet with a calf kick. He worked the body with big hooks and then reversed the Japanese fighter’s takedown when it came. Lineker settled in full guard, survived a sudden scare with a triangle-armbar, and worked to try to do what Kim did to him in the first round. He had trouble controlling Kim however, who kicked out and stood up ninety seconds into the round. Lineker threw his patented wild overhands but Kim was very competitive in that realm.

Kim then shot in for a double leg and ducked under to the back when it was defended, but got his body-lock cleared and was forced into striking again. Lineker stuffed another quick takedown attempt, this one with ease as the shots became more telegraphed. Kim worked to use his length to avoid the power of Lineker and it helped him stay competitive with an otherwise more punishing striker. The body punches  did the most effective damage for John Lineker but Kim came right back with his own attacks to that area, mainly teep kicks. Kim rarely let his rear hand go, but his jab was effective at keeping Lineker from inflicting the damage on him that so many others had fallen prey to.

The round was close when it ended, though fights are not scored round-by-round in ONE Championship MMA.

There was all to play for going into the final round and both men knew it. Lineker got back to the calf kicks early and was effective there. Those kicks also set up his strikes upstairs. Kim continued to work the jab but it was never a punch that would hurt John. Lineker stayed more technical than in past fights and did get somewhat out-volumed, but the powerful shots were all his when he did let his hands go. Kim began to open up a bit more halfway through the round and then changed it up and went for his first takedowns of the round, both of which were defended by Lineker. However, off of those attempts Kim was able to land some good knees on the shorter fighter.

Lineker countered with a leg kick that hurt Kim momentarily. Just past the one minute mark John Lineker landed his best shot of the fight, a right hook which hurt Kim and forced him to shoot for a desperation takedown. It was stuffed easily. Suddenly, with just ten seconds left in the fight John ‘Hands of Stone’ Lineker landed one of his famous combinations, the right hook to the body followed by the left hook to the head. Kim was dropped against the ropes and the Brazilian pounced on his hurt prey, raining down ground strikes until the referee was forced to step in with only moments to spare.

Lineker may have been about to lose the fight on the scorecards but he never laid down and proved that fighting to the bitter end can have beautiful results. John Lineker got back in the win column in spectacular style and notched his twenty-second professional finish at the age of thirty-three. He proved that he still belongs in the deep end of the talented ONE Championship 145-lb MMA division. In the post-fight interview, the former champion called for a rematch with his archrival, Fabricio de Andrade, who was sitting in the front row in attendance.

Official Result: John Lineker def. Kim Jae Woong by TKO (hooks to ground strikes) Round 3, 4:56

The post ONE Fight Night 13: John Lineker Comes Back to KO Jae Woong Kim in Final Seconds appeared first on Cageside Press.

The top two bouts were the tournament semifinals, with Sitthichai facing Davit Kira on one side of the bracket, while Smokin’ Jo Nattawut took on Chingiz Allazov in the other semifinal match-up. An alternate bout, featuring Ivan Kondratev verus Dovydas Rimkus, was set to unfold earlier in the evening.

On the MMA side of things, South Korea’s Kim Jae Woong faced off with China’s Tang Kai, while Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks looked to make it two wins in ONE Championship, and four in a row overall, when he faced Hiroba Minowa of Japan.

Update: ONE officials have confirmed that Woong vs. Kai is off. “Kim Jae Woong had to withdraw from his fight against Tang Kai due to an undisclosed medical issue,” the promotion stated on social media early Friday. As a result, Hiroyuki Tetsuka vs. Edson Marques has been promoted to the main card.

Full results from ONE: Only the Brave can be found below. A live stream of the action, where available, can be viewed above. The event gets underway on Friday, January 28, 2022 live from Singapore.

ONE Championship: Only the Brave Results

Main Card

Sitthichai def. Davit Kira by unanimous decision – ONE featherweight kickboxing grand prix semifinal
Chingiz Allazov def. Smokin’ Jo Nattawut by TKO, Round 1, 1:55 – ONE featherweight kickboxing grand prix semifinal
Zhang Lipeng def. Ruslan Emilbek Uulu by knockout, Round 1, 0:32
Rade Opacic def. Francesko Xhaja by TKO, Round 2, 2:00 – kickboxing
Hiroyuki Tetsuka def. Edson Marques by knockout, Round 3, 1:05
Jarred Brooks def. Hiroba Minowa by unanimous decision

Lead Card

Paul Elliott vs. Anderson Silva
Ivan Kondratev def. Dovydas Rimkus by TKO, Round 3, 0:35 – ONE featherweight kickboxing grand prix alternate bout
Tatsumitsu Wada def. Wang Shou by unanimous decision
Purev Otgonjargal def. Micael de Jesus by unanimous decision

The post ONE Championship: Only the Brave Live Stream and Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

ONE officials revealed the full line-up via press release on Friday — with the semifinal round of the promotion’s featherweight kickboxing grand prix being featured prominently.

In the co-main event, meanwhile, will be a featherweight mixed martial arts contest. That will see #1 ranked Kim Jae Woong (12-4) of South Korea taking on China’s #4 ranked Tang Kai (13-2).

Tang Kai will enter the bout having won all five of his appearances under the ONE Championship banner. Overall, he sits on an eight-fight winning streak. Kim has won two straight, most recently stopping former double-champ Martin Nguyen via TKO within a round.

The full ONE: Only the Brave card, which is expected to take place live in Singapore on January 28, can be found below.

ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE

Friday, 28 January 2022

Main Card

ONE Interim Heavyweight World Championship
Anatoly Malykhin vs. Kirill Grishenko
Heavyweight: 102.2 KG – 120.2 KG

Mixed Martial Arts
(1) Kim Jae Woong vs. (4) Tang Kai
Featherweight: 65.9 KG – 70.3 KG

ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix – Semifinal
(1) Marat Grigorian vs. (4) Chingiz Allazov
Featherweight: 65.9 KG – 70.3 KG

ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix – Semifinal
(3) Sitthichai vs. Davit Kiria
Featherweight: 65.9 KG – 70.3 KG

Mixed Martial Arts
Ruslan Emilbek Uulu vs. Zhang Lipeng
Lightweight: 70.4 KG – 77.1 KG

Kickboxing
Rade Opacic vs. Francesko Xhaja
Heavyweight: 102.2 KG – 120.2 KG

Lead Card

Mixed Martial Arts
(4) Hiroba Minowa vs. (3) Jarred Brooks
Strawweight: 52.3 KG – 56.7 KG

ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix – Alternate
Smokin’ Jo Nattawut vs. Dovydas Rimkus
Featherweight: 65.9 KG – 70.3 KG

Mixed Martial Arts
Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Wang Shuo
Flyweight: 56.8 KG – 61.2 KG

Mixed Martial Arts
Hiroyuki Tetsuka vs. Zebaztian Kadestam
Welterweight: 77.2 KG – 83.9 KG

Mixed Martial Arts
Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva vs. Paul Elliott
Light Heavyweight: 93.1 KG – 102.1 KG

Muay Thai
Diandra Martin vs. Smilla Sundell
Catchweight: 58.0 KG

The post Full Card for ONE Championship’s Only the Brave Announced appeared first on Cageside Press.