Stephen Loman. Photo from ONE Championship
MANILA, Philippines—Stephen Loman and John Lineker will finally get to test each other’s mettle at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 30 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Loman and Lineker were supposed to meet back in April 2021 but the Filipino was forced to withdraw from the highly-anticipated fight after testing positive for COVID-19.
“I really look at this as one of the biggest fights of my career,” Loman said in Filipino.
While Loman and Lineker waited years for their bout to actually happen, it doesn’t seem like the fight goes the distance considering the two fighters’ knockout power.
“His punches are really strong and he knocked out many opponents before but I think my punches are strong too and when they connect, I’m sure it can knock him out too,” said Loman (16-2), who has stopped seven of his opponents.
FILE – John Lineker knocks out Bibiano Fernandes to claim the ONE bantamweight world championship. ONE PHOTO
The 31-year-old Loman is on an 11-fight streak, including a 3-0 since joining ONE Championship in December 2021. A win over Lineker could propel Loman into a world title fight against current champion Fabricio Andrade.
In his last fight, Loman scored a unanimous decision win over former bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes, whom Lineker knocked out in March of last year to win the bantamweight belt.
Lineker (36-10), however, was stripped of the title seven months later after missing weight ahead of his clash with Andrade. The fight was declared a No Contest after an accidental knee to the groin by Andrade in the third round rendered Lineker unable to continue.
Andrade then stopped Lineker in the fourth round of their rematch to claim the vacant bantamweight strap last February.
The 33-year-old Lineker, who posted a 12-4 record during his UFC campaign from 2012-2019, has since bounced back from the loss with a third-round TKO over Kim Jae-woong.
Lineker is currently No. 1 in the bantamweight rankings with Loman at No. 2.