Demetrious Johnson Shares Thoughts On John Lineker vs. Fabricio Andrade Drama

Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson kept a close eye on the high-profile showdown between Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade and John “Hands of Stone” Lineker earlier this month.

The two Brazilians squared off in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 3, where Andrade was scheduled to challenge “Hands of Stone” for the ONE Bantamweight World Title. However, things did not quite go to plan.

First, Lineker was stripped of the belt after narrowly missing weight. And once the action got underway, an unintentional low blow from Andrade led to a no contest when “Hands of Stone” was unable to continue.

It was a disastrous fight week for Lineker, who vacated his World Title, handed a percentage of his purse to Andrade, and then left the Circle in immense pain.

But while missing weight was a major story, Johnson doesn’t think too much should be made of it.

Instead, the MMA GOAT simply views the situation as something unfortunate after Linker successfully hit the mark for all of his previous ONE Championship appearances.

“Mighty Mouse” said:

“I don’t look at it as controversy. I mean, he weighed in in the past at 125 and 135 [pounds], and now at 145. It’s part of the sport. It’s a tricky thing to happen, but hey, Fabricio made a little extra money.”

The bigger talking point for Johnson was the fight itself – especially the challenger’s performance.

“Mighty Mouse” heaped praise on Andrade last month, and those comments were vindicated when the rising star dominated long stretches of the matchup against Lineker.

Even though an ill-placed knee resulted in the no contest and stopped “Wonder Boy” from claiming the vacant belt, his striking greatly impressed the ONE Flyweight World Champion.

Johnson said:

“The fight, obviously, it was striking back and forth, with Fabricio Andrade winning most of the exchanges and battering John Lineker. 

“I think the biggest thing that Fabricio does so well is that he’s longer than John, so he has the range advantage.”

Demetrious Johnson Indifferent On Potential John Lineker Matchup

Demetrious Johnson and John Lineker have been potential opponents since their time competing in North America, but their paths have never crossed.

For his part, Lineker has suggested they could finally meet inside the ONE Championship Circle, but “Mighty Mouse” has no particular desire to make that happen.

At the same time, he wouldn’t turn it down if matchmakers make the call.

Johnson added:

“I haven’t heard it from the fans whatsoever, that they want to see us fight. The biggest thing I think is that when he fought at 125, he had a hard time making that weight class. That’s what I heard mostly about.

“I fight to make my living, so if it was to happen, it [will] happen. If it doesn’t, I can go my whole entire career without fighting John Lineker, and I think I will be totally fine.”