John Lineker, known as “Hands of Stone,” is set to make his kickboxing debut at ONE 172 this Sunday in Japan. This marks his return to combat sports in the country after a year-long absence from MMA, where his last fight was an openweight match against Shinya Aoki. Lineker’s decision to step into the kickboxing ring is driven by the desire to maintain his income while he anticipates his next opportunity in MMA.
Lineker’s opponent in Saitama will be former ONE kickboxing champion Hiroki Akimoto. This fight follows Lineker’s recent participation in three muay Thai bouts over the past half-year, where he secured two wins and one loss. As a dedicated father of six, the Brazilian fighter emphasizes the importance of continuous work to support his family and is determined to make the most of his time.
“Providing for my family is a priority, which is why I need to keep working,” Lineker stated in an interview. He added, “My goal for this fight is a knockout. I always aim to finish fights early, avoiding decisions, and this fight will be no different. I’m going for the knockout and aiming to secure that $50,000 bonus.”
Lineker’s foray into kickboxing wasn’t initially planned. His primary focus was on reclaiming his ONE title in a highly anticipated trilogy fight with Fabricio Andrade. However, he chose to take this kickboxing opportunity to earn money and stay active while waiting for Andrade to be ready for their title rematch.
“For me, it’s about staying busy and making a living,” Lineker explained. “Instead of being inactive for a year, these fights allow me to keep competing. I believe ONE is planning for the title fight with Fabricio. He recently defended his belt quickly against Won Il Kwon. In the meantime, these fights are a good way to earn money and remain active in combat sports.”
Approaching his 35th birthday in June, the former ONE bantamweight champion is also thinking about his future beyond MMA. Lineker has recently established a construction company in his hometown of Paranagua, Brazil. He and his business partner have just completed their first renovation project and Lineker is enjoying this new venture.
“This business is a completely new experience for me, something I wasn’t very familiar with before,” Lineker shared. “My business partner has the expertise, and it’s been interesting to explore this different field. Fighters have physically demanding careers with unpredictable longevity, so it’s important to prepare for the future,” he chuckled.
As he enters his kickboxing debut, the seasoned MMA veteran with 49 fights under his belt admits uncertainty about facing Akimoto, who has a 6-4 record in ONE kickboxing. The Japanese fighter previously achieved a five-fight win streak, culminating in a title victory over Capitan Petchyindee, indicating a strong kickboxing pedigree.
“To be honest, I haven’t closely followed muay Thai and kickboxing as my main focus has been MMA,” Lineker admitted. “However, after our fight was scheduled, I started watching Akimoto’s fights and realized he’s a very dangerous and tough opponent. While I don’t know much in detail, I can see he’s highly experienced in kickboxing.”
“Our training approach doesn’t drastically change because we always train comprehensively for MMA,” he added. “We are now incorporating more specific kickboxing training, so I’ve reduced grappling training for now, but the stand-up aspect remains largely consistent.”
“Hands of Stone” demonstrated his knockout power in muay Thai earlier in 2024, securing consecutive knockouts against Asa Ten Pow and Alexey Balyko with powerful hooks, before losing a decision to Kulabdam Sor.Jor.Piek Uthai earlier in May. He anticipates his knockout ability will translate effectively with the smaller 8-ounce kickboxing gloves.
“We typically train with larger gloves, which can make knockouts slightly harder to achieve,” Lineker explained. “But in kickboxing, we use eight-ounce gloves, which are very dangerous. They are smaller, so I believe that if my punches connect, he will go down just as he would with MMA gloves.”
