John Lineker once again struggled to make weight for a flyweight bout in the UFC, but he’s not considering a return to the bantamweight division.
Lineker entered the UFC with a 19-5 record as a bantamweight, but he cut down to 125 for his first UFC fight. He missed weight for his UFC on FOX 3 loss to Louis Gaudinot, and came up heavy for two of his next four fights inside the Octagon.
The Brazilian needed an extra hour to hit 126 pounds at the scale for his UFC 169 clash with Ali Bagautinov, but eventually made weight. Following a unanimous decision loss to the Dagestani prospect, Lineker will stay in the flyweight division.
“He’s not a bantamweight, he’s a flyweight,” Lineker’s manager Alex Davis told MMAFighting.com. “We’ll fix the issues and he will make weight.
“Imagine Lineker fighting a guy the size of Renan Barao. It makes no sense. The 135-pound guys are way bigger than him. He’s a flyweight, and we have to fix the weight issues.”
Lineker is shorter than all of the opponents he has faced under the UFC banner, but his camp is still unsure about why he can’t make weight constantly.
“He was doing a great job with Dr. Marco Aranha in Brazil,” Davis said. “He went to the U.S. lighter than he did in his previous fights, but he just ‘froze’ during the last cut. We don’t know what happens. He just thinks he won’t make weight and his body stops sweating. We did everything and he cut the last pound.”
“He can make 125,” he continued. “He doesn’t dehydrate to make 126. I’m sure he’ll make weight, and I’m positive this kid will be the champion one day. Demetrious Johnson, Ali Bagautinov, John Dodson… These guys are great fighters, but Lineker is special. He’s very talented, and he’s only 23 years old.”
Alex Davis wants Lineker to cut down to 125 before he gets another fight in the UFC to make him realize he can actually do it.
“I didn’t want a fight that early to begin with, but the UFC needed the fight so we had to accept it,” he said. “Now, I’ll make him make weight before his next camp. I’m confident that, when he makes 125 with no fight scheduled, he’ll realize he can make it and won’t panic anymore.”
For his next fight inside the Octagon, Davis wants Lineker to train more at American Top Team.
“American Top Team helped him a lot,” he said. “Dan Lambert, Ricardo Liborio and Rafael Rebelo helped him a lot. We will make him the champion. I want him training in the U.S., working with some wrestlers, and he’ll be the UFC champion.”