John Lineker to continue Muay Thai charge against Alexey Balyko at ONE Fight Night 25
John Lineker has another opportunity on deck to let his 'Hands of Stone' dazzle in the Muay Thai realm. The former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion is locked in for a striking matchup against dangerous Russian striker Alexey Balyko at ONE Fight Night 25.
With another interesting challenge in the offing, John Lineker should do what he does best when he takes to the Circle on a card loaded with some world-class contests inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 4. The promotion recently confirmed the news on their website.
The Brazilian brawler debuted in 'The Art of Eight Limbs' at ONE 168: Denver. As always, he let his hands fly to secure a second-round highlight-reel win over Asa Ten Pow in Ball Arena. The 34-year-old threw all sorts of combinations at 'The American Ninja,' even adding elbows — something he typically never relies on — to punish his opposite number.
Before his stunning Muay Thai debut, John Lineker suffered a loss to Shinya Aoki at ONE 165 in Tokyo, Japan. Despite coming out short, it should be noted that the OCS Jiu-Jitsu only accepted the bout on very short notice.
Overall, the martial arts veteran is 37-1-11 in his MMA career. Now, he has the chance to double up his Muay Thai tally at ONE Fight Night 25.
The 31-year-old Tiger Muay Thai representative, however, shouldn't be overlooked. Balyko heads into this showdown off a 3-1 run in the promotion. Most recently, the Russian saw off Stefan Korodi in the opening stanza of their clash at ONE Fight Night 23.
John Lineker joins a slew of superstars at ONE Fight Night 25
While the John Lineker-Alexey Balyko clash has all the makings of a guaranteed Fight of the Night contender, several other fixtures on the loaded card will be ready to impress on a similar note.
An atomweight Muay Thai joust between Amy Pirnie and Shir Cohen opens the show. Shortly after, three-sport superstar Danial Williams takes to the Circle in a flyweight MMA contest against Banma Duoji.
Meanwhile, Jihin Radzuan and Ayaka Miura are locked in for an atomweight MMA contest, and ONE Friday Fights contract winner Thongpoon PK Saenchai is back in action in a strawweight Muay Thai tilt versus Rui Botelho.
That's not all, though.
A pair of Muay Thai wars (Sinsamut Klinmee vs. Youssef Assouik, Kongthoranee Sor Sommai vs. Tagir Khalilov) and a pivotal clash featuring ranked strawweight MMA contenders Bokang Masunyane (2) and Mansur Malachiev (5) will entertain the audience before Alexis Nicolas puts his ONE lightweight kickboxing world title on the line in a main event rematch against former kingpin Regian Eersel.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 25 card live in U.S. primetime for free on Friday, Oct. 4.