John Lineker set to return as part of ONE Championship’s April TNT events, faces Stephen Loman

The man with the “Hands of Stone,” John Lineker (33-9), is back and looks to continue his reign of terror in ONE Championship come this April.

MMA Fighting confirmed Thursday that the former UFC flyweight hopeful now has his third fight in ONE booked. It will take place on April 28 at ONE on TNT 4 as Lineker faces off with the Philippines’ Stephen Loman (14-2).

Departing from the UFC in 2019 after a split decision loss against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Sunrise, Lineker would go on to join the Singapore-based ONE. Since that time he’s competed twice and picked up dominant victories in both.

Originally known for the run he went on at flyweight, John Lineker disposed of fighters like Yasuhiro Urushitani and former No. 1 in the world, Ian McCall. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, the battle with the scale became his worst enemy as he was forced back up to the 135-pound bantamweight division.

Despite the move, Lineker’s lethality remained as he put on a classic encounter with Francisco Rivera that ended via Lineker snatching up a guillotine. Wins over Rob Font, Michael McDonald, and John Dodson would follow before coming up short vs. TJ Dillashaw.

In ONE, John Lineker has secured wins now at 145-pounds by decisioning Muin Gafurov and then knocking out former ONE champion, Kevin Belingnon in his last time out.

For the 29-year-old Loman, Lineker will be the biggest test of his career. Regardless, “The Sniper” will enter into the bout riding high off of a very nice eight-fight winning streak as he’s welcomed to the promotion.

No matter who comes out on top in this battle of 145ers, it’s safe to assume that we could very well see them positioned opposite the current champion Bibiano Fernandes. “The Flash” last fought in October 2019 when defending his title against Belingnon in their quadrilogy bout.