Former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John “Hands of Stone” Lineker has taken the Muay Thai world by storm, and reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon is paying close attention. On October 4 in U.S.
primetime, Lineker tallied his second straight dominant Muay Thai victory, knocking out Russian standout Alexey Balyko at ONE Fight Night 25: Nicolas vs. Eersel II on Prime Video . A post shared by ONE Championship (@onechampionship) That victory came just a few weeks after Lineker’s professional Muay Thai debut at ONE 168: Denver , where he stopped Asa “The American Ninja” Ten Pow in equally spectacular fashion.
Those performances erased any doubts that the hard-hitting MMA veteran can compete with the planet’s best pure strikers – and Lineker feels ready for them, too . Following his big win at ONE Fight Night 25, the Brazilian called out Rodtang for what would be a massive Muay Thai showdown. For his part, “The Iron Man” respects the power of Lineker but is not impressed by his overall Muay Thai arsenal: “For me, from a fighter’s perspective, he’s not scary at all.
Only his punches are dangerous. “But I understand his style. Because he’s short, he can’t kick effectively.
He has to walk in to punch. But his punches are deadly. He can kill a buffalo with his punch.
But if I use my footwork, he might not hit me at all.” A post shared by ONE Championship (@onechampionship) Indeed, Rodtang would rep.