John Lineker
John “Hands of Stone” Lineker dos Santos de Paula is a Brazilian mixed martial artist born on January 1st 1990. He fights in the bantamweight division and has previously fought at flyweight.
Lineker is the former Jungle Fight bantamweight champion and won a Nitrix bantamweight tournament in 2011.
John Lineker – Photo by MMAnytt.se
John Lineker’s career before the UFC
John Lineker made his pro MMA debut in 2008 and won his first three fights, before his first loss by submission to Nelson Velasques. He had 9 fights in 2009, winning five and losing four.
Between February of 2010 and September of 2011, Lineker went on a tear, winning 13 straight fight and capturing the Nitrix bantamweight grand prix title with two wins in one night, and the Jungle Fight bantamweight belt against Iliarde Santos at JF – Jungle Fight 32.
After winning the title he signed with the UFC with a professional MMA record of 19-6.
John Lineker in the UFC
John Lineker made his UFC debut in 2011 in the flyweight division against Louis Gaudinot, but missed weight by 7 lbs (3 kgs). Lineker lost his debut by guillotine choke in the second round after a back-and-forth fight. Both fighters earned Fight of the Night for their performance.
Lineker rebounded with four straight wins, three by KO. He knocked out Phil Harris, Jose Maria Tome and Azamat Gashimov all in the first two rounds. He missed weight for two out of the four wins.
He faces tough Russian Ali Bagautinov at UFC 169 – Barao vs. Faber 2 in February of 2014 and got his second loss in the UFC by decision.
After his second defeat, John Lineker once again rebounded and won six straight fights. He continually had trouble making weight and UFC President Dana White made him move up to the bantamweight division in 2015.
His first win in the bantamweight division in the UFC was an incredible brawl with Francisco Rivera, and his next win was against the young Canadian Michael “Mayday” McDonald was a massive KO.
John Lineker after knocking out Michael McDonald – Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
At the end-of-the-year show in December billed UFC 207 – Nunes vs. Rousey, John Lineker faced former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and lost by unanimous decision.
John Lineker’s next fight in the UFC
At time of writing John Lineker doesn’t have a fight scheduled.
