John Lineker ‘not surprised’ by Demetrious Johnson’s loss, open to eventual fight

For the vast majority of the time that John Lineker spent in the UFC, he found himself chasing the all-time great, Demetrious Johnson. Now, he’s chasing Johnson’s teammate.

Despite Lineker being the heavier of the two with a new target in sight, “Hands of Stone” remains open to the prospect of taking on “Mighty Mouse”. Training with current ONE Championship flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, Lineker wasn’t too shocked by seeing his fellow Brazilian manage to knock out Johnson.

“For me, it would be a great fight,” John Lineker told BJPenn.com regarding a bout with Johnson. “I’m here to fight so if they tell me to fight Demetrious Johnson, I’m ready.

“I’m not surprised because I know Adriano. He’s my friend, he’s my training partner, we train together at American Top Team so I knew that he could win against Demetrious Johnson. I knew he could beat him, he’s a great fighter.

“It’s funny because he’s training with Bibiano [Fernandes] and I’m training with Adriano so let’s see who the best team is as I’m gonna fight Bibiano and we’re gonna see.”

Next for John Lineker (34-9) will be his long-awaited title shot when challenging two-time ONE bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes (24-4).

The two were originally slated to do battle at ONE’s 10-year anniversary show titled ONE: X on Dec. 3. Unfortunately, the event has since been postponed and Lineker has yet to receive any updates on when it may happen.

“Bibiano is a great fighter, he is the champion,” Lineker said. “We think that he’s gonna try and take the fight down, but we are training all day, everything. Boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, we are preparing to defend the takedown attempts, and keep the fight on track. He talks and I talk, but the true history is gonna happen in the cage and I’m very prepared.

“It’s an honor for me to be fighting for the title shot on one of the greatest events in the world. All my career, my only goal is the belt. So my way of thinking is the same way, we are hunting this belt all the time.

“In words, it [would be] a dream coming true,” he added. “We have worked all my life up to this moment to be the champion. I can’t explain in words.”

As for Demetrious Johnson, he and John Lineker are both slated to compete at ONE: X. Johnson is expected to fight Muay Thai legend Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special mixed rules MMA-Muay Thai bout.