John Lineker KO’s Bibiano Fernandes To Win ONE Championship Title (Video)

John Lineker is a world champion. In the co-main event of ONE Lights Out in Singapore, Lineker was finally fighting Bibiano Fernandes in a highly-anticipated bantamweight title fight. The two were booked earlier this year but Lineker tested positive for COVID-19 which led the fight to be delayed. Right off the bat, the champ in…

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John Lineker is a world champion.

In the co-main event of ONE Lights Out in Singapore, Lineker was finally fighting Bibiano Fernandes in a highly-anticipated bantamweight title fight. The two were booked earlier this year but Lineker tested positive for COVID-19 which led the fight to be delayed.

Right off the bat, the champ in Fernandes got an early takedown and held the former UFC fighter down. He held him there for nearly two minutes but Lineker was able to get up. Once that happened, the challenger landed a solid combo that appeared to rock Fernandes but as he was stumbled, he landed a beautiful counter that dropped Lineker down.

After he got dropped, Lineker was able to scramble on top and finished the last-minute on top of Fernandes, and landed some ground and pound.

The second round began with both men still being stunned from the last round. Just over a minute into the first round, Bibiano Fernandes shot for another takedown and got it but after a minute of control, John Lineker was able to get back to his feet. Once they were on their feet, Lineker started landing heavy shots to the body and head. After landing some heavy shots, the challenger landed a massive check hook that knocked Fernandes out to become the new champ.

With the KO win, John Lineker is now 35-9 and is 4-0 in ONE Championship. The Brazilian left the UFC after a decision loss to Cory Sandhagen and signed with the Singapore-based promotion. In the UFC, Lineker went 12-4 with notable wins over Rob Font, Marlon Vera, and Ian McCall.

As for Bibiano Fernandes, he defended the belt seven times over two title reigns. In his career, he holds notable wins over Kevin Belingon four times, and Joe Warren on the regional scene while losing to Urijah Faber in his second pro fight.

What do you make of John Lineker winning the ONE bantamweight title?

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Demetrious Johnson Puts Full-Time Twitch Streamer Dream On Hold

ONE Championship’s Demetrious Johnson is putting his goals of streaming on Twitch full-time on the back burner. There’s a list of fighters who found stardom on Twitch, including Max Holloway, Angela Hill, and “Rampage” Jackson. But Johnson has been in the game longer and feels the streaming service comes with a few obstacles to conquer….

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ONE Championship’s Demetrious Johnson is putting his goals of streaming on Twitch full-time on the back burner.

There’s a list of fighters who found stardom on Twitch, including Max Holloway, Angela Hill, and “Rampage” Jackson. But Johnson has been in the game longer and feels the streaming service comes with a few obstacles to conquer.

During his successful streaming career, Johnson hardly had any time for his family. He would train, stream, and repeat. Exhaustion eventually caught up with him, and it was time to put the sticks down and focus on the important things.

Demetrious Johnson
Demetrious Johnson, Photo Credit: Game Informer

“My schedule basically consisted of this: I would go to the gym, train for a session, stream afterward, then get my second session in, come home, eat dinner, kiss my wife, and then go downstairs and stream for another two hours,” Johnson said. At the time, he was making around $3,000 per month from streaming, enough to cover his mortgage. “But then it came to a point where I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? I don’t get to go to bed with my wife. I’m absolutely exhausted. It’s just not worth it,’ ” Johnson told The Washington Post.

He’s sorry for streamers’ who experience a fluctuation in their followers and subscribers. The thought of being dependent on subscribers to support himself financially does not entice him. Furthermore, the point of him playing video games is simply for enjoyment.

Training as a mixed martial artist probably sounds daunting to the average gamer. Being one of the greatest fighters in the world is far from easy, but to Johnson, it makes a lot more sense than swimming in Twitch’s algorithm pool and maintaining the support of subscribers.

Once, “Mighty Mouse” wished to live the seemingly exciting life as a gamer on Twitch. Now, those plans have come to an end.

The more conversations he has with current streamers and channels he views, the less desirable the idea becomes. Now, Demetrious Johnson fights with ONE Championship.

“Wake up every day and stream full time? … Oh god no. I couldn’t do it,” Johnson said during an interview on The Washington Post’s Friday live stream, Press Play. “Sometimes I feel bad for some of the streamers; one moment they have a s—load [of subscribers], and then next thing you know, they take a little time off, and their subscriber numbers just drop. I’ll play video games because I enjoy it, but I don’t want it to be my livelihood,” Johnson continues to say.

Johnson’s love for video games will never diminish. However, now just isn’t the time for him to pursue a full-time streaming career on Twitch.

At this time, his focus is on his next bout with ONE Championship. On March 26 he faces off with flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special rules match.

What are your thoughts on “Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson giving up being a full-time Twitch streamer?

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ONE CEO Disagrees With How White Does Business, Open To A Fight

Chatri Sityodtong doesn’t agree with how Dana White runs the UFC.

Sityodtong, the CEO of ONE Championship, is all about martial arts and respect, and he doesn’t like when his fighters talk trash. White and the UFC, however, embrace trash-talking be…

Chatri Sityodtong, Dana White

Chatri Sityodtong doesn’t agree with how Dana White runs the UFC.

Sityodtong, the CEO of ONE Championship, is all about martial arts and respect, and he doesn’t like when his fighters talk trash. White and the UFC, however, embrace trash-talking because it helps sell pay-per-views. That is one of the things Sityodtong doesn’t like about how the UFC is run.

“I think he is an outstanding businessman,” Sityodtong said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t necessarily agree with the way he does things, but obviously he’s built UFC into a phenomenal company. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. But I don’t think he knows anything about martial arts. I don’t think he knows anything about fighting. I think he’s a fan, so I have differences. I come from the martial arts community. I come from the martial arts background. And how I treat my athletes, they are my peers. I come from the community. It’s very, very different.

“I think if you’ve never been punched in the face or choked out, you can disrespect people publicly [with your comments],” Sityodtong continued. “But if you have had lifelong hard training — I just say we have stylistic differences. I don’t particularly respect the way he talks down to athletes.”

Chatri Sityodtong (Image Credit: Paul Miller/Bloomberg)

With Chatri Sityodtong disagreeing with how Dana White runs the UFC and him claiming White doesn’t know martial arts, he says he is open to a fight with him. They are both over 50-years-old, but Sityodtong is confident he would beat the American with ease.

“I’m a lifelong martial artist,” Sityodtong said about a fight with White. “I’ve been doing Muay Thai for 35 years and I’m a jiu-jitsu brown belt. I train five, six times a week. If there’s a fight with someone my age, why not? I’m 50, turning 51 this year. I train five, six days a week, one or two hours every day.”

Although Sityodtong is open to a fight against White, it is highly unlikely the bout happens. White is just focused on running the UFC, and he doesn’t gain anything by fighting the ONE CEO. Nevertheless, Sityodtong’s remarks are sure to get more people talking about him and his promotion.

What do you make of Chatri Sityodtong calling out Dana White for a fight?

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ONE Championship Will Award Fight Bonuses Of $50,000 For “Gameness”

ONE Championship will be awarding fighters who give it their all.

ONE Championship is hoping to have a very successful 2022, and they will be making it more lucrative for fighters. According to The South China Morning Post, the organization will be…

ONE Championship

ONE Championship will be awarding fighters who give it their all.

ONE Championship is hoping to have a very successful 2022, and they will be making it more lucrative for fighters. According to The South China Morning Post, the organization will be handing out fight bonuses of $50,000. Much like the UFC, these fight bonuses will be given to fighters who put on exceptional performances.

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong spoke a bit about why they are giving out these bonuses.

“We have always given out $50,000 bonuses but it was not every event. It was if there were spectacular performances we have given out for the last several years,” CEO Chatri Sityodtong explained on The MMA Hour. “This year is the first year that we will give out every single show, several of these $50,000 bonuses. Our main criteria is performance of course, but gameness. Gameness we define as fighting every second of the fight to finish.”

The UFC has been giving out performance bonuses for a long time. While they typically give out “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonuses, ONE Championship will be using a different type of scale to award these prizes.

“Even someone who loses can win,” Sityodtong said. “We gave this bonus to Timofey Nastyukhin who knocked out Eddie Alvarez, he fought Dagi Arslanaliev just a few weeks ago, and man, you have to watch this fight, I don’t know if you saw, no one expected it to be this crazy. I decided that both of them get $50,000 because it was crazy gameness.”

ONE Championship will now move forward with giving these bonuses out every event. They hold events roughly twice a month and have a very big show coming up on March 26. That event will be called ONE Championship: ONE X event and is set to feature big names such as Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Shinya Aoki, and Sage Northcutt.

Do you like the criteria that ONE Championship will use to give out bonuses?

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Report: Managers File Lawsuit Against ONE Champion Adriano Moraes

Talent managers Alex Davis and Samir Nadaf have reportedly filed a lawsuit against ONE Championship fighter Adriano Moraes.

The lawsuit alleges Moraes owes the managers over $100,000 due to a breach of contract.

The issue stems from a claim that…

Adriano Moraes (Photo Credit: ONE Championship)

Talent managers Alex Davis and Samir Nadaf have reportedly filed a lawsuit against ONE Championship fighter Adriano Moraes.

The lawsuit alleges Moraes owes the managers over $100,000 due to a breach of contract.

The issue stems from a claim that Moraes wasn’t paying the managers an agreed-upon amount of his income. News of the filing was first reported by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.

Details obtained by MMA Fighting allege that Moraes was giving his management less than what he agreed to give them as part of a deal. The managers claim he agreed to pay them 10 percent of fight purses and 20 percent of his money from sponsorships, but they say he only gave them 5 percent for his last two outings.

Managers Allege They Are Owed $35,000 For Fight Against Johnson

Adriano Moraes, Demetrious Johnson
Adriano Moraes, Demetrious Johnson, Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Davis and Nadaf are reportedly seeking $113,000 in total.

Moraes pulled off a big win earlier this year, stopping former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson with strikes. Documents filed in the lawsuit claim that Moraes was given $50,000 to show for that fight, along with another $50,000 for winning. He was also allegedly given an extra $250,000 as a bonus afterward.

Davis and Nadaf claim they were owed $35,000 for the fight weekend but only received $2,500 from Moraes.

“As a professional rule, I don’t make comments about contracts, money and etc publicly,” said Davis when requested for comment by MMA Fighting. “I seek the justice when I’m in need about any situation, and I’ll wait and humbly agree to its decision.”

Moraes started his third run as the ONE 135-pound Champion in early 2019. In that fight, he avenged a loss he previously took against Geje Eustaquio. Moraes has fought on the ONE Championship roster since 2013.

Continue Reading Report: Managers File Lawsuit Against ONE Champion Adriano Moraes at MMA News.

Demetrious Johnson’s Mixed-Special-Rules Fight Now March 26

Demetrious Johnson is set to make his return to competition in a very intriguing way when he takes on ONE Championship Flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon on March 26.

CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the fight last year on The MMA Hour…

Demetrious Johnson, Rodtang Jitmuangnon

Demetrious Johnson is set to make his return to competition in a very intriguing way when he takes on ONE Championship Flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon on March 26.

CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the fight last year on The MMA Hour after the original ONE X card planned for December 5 2021 was postponed.

The mixed-special-rules fight will have alternating rounds between Muay Thai and MMA. The first and third rounds will be under Muay Thai rules, and the second and fourth rounds will be MMA. This will be a tall test for Johnson, as Jitmuangnon has competed in over 300 professional Muay Thai bouts with a total of 267 wins. The ONE Muay Thai champion is currently on a five-fight winning streak and has held the title since August 2, 2019.

What makes this fight interesting, though, is that Jitmuangnon has never competed in MMA, just as Johnson has never competed in Muay Thai. After losing for the first time in ONE Championship in April to flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, Johnson did express interest in competing in a kickboxing bout, so this unique fight announcement should not come as a total surprise.

Also announced for this card is atomweight champion Angela Lee defending her title against Stamp Fairtex, who has held championships in multiple combat sports. This bout will serve as the main event for the card. Additionally, Adriano Moraes will take on Yuya Wakamatsu in his first flyweight title defense since defeating Demetrious Johnson last year.

Stick with MMA News for further updates on this event, including the broadcast information. Also, be sure to catch our coverage of ONE X on March 26!

Are you excited to see the mixed rules bout between Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang Jitmuangnon on March 26?

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