ONE Championship Parts Ways With John Lineker Following Doping Violation
One of the most recognisable names on the ONE Championship roster has been cut, and the circumstances surrounding his departure are damaging to the legacy he built in the promotion.
John “Hands of Stone” Lineker has been released after returning a failed drug test. The former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion tested positive for two banned substances in the aftermath of his first-round TKO loss to Ben Woolliss at ONE Fight Night 41 in March.
The first was tamoxifen, an anti-oestrogenic agent, and the second was metandienone, the anabolic steroid widely known as Dianabol. A one-year suspension was already in place at the point the promotion made its decision to sever ties entirely.
The 35-year-old Brazilian had been a fixture in the promotion since 2019, arriving from the UFC with a reputation for explosive, relentless brawling that he fully lived up to inside the ONE ring.
He reached the summit of the bantamweight division in March 2022 with a second-round knockout of Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes. Few predicted the result. The title reign that followed never found its footing. Weight issues cost Lineker the belt before he had defended it, and Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade stopped him in their 2023 rematch for the vacant championship.
His subsequent years in the promotion produced a single Muay Thai win over Asa Ten Pow in Denver but little else to build on, and he exits ONE Championship having lost three of his final four bouts.
Danny “The King” Kingad and South Korean heavyweight Kang Ji Won have also been released as part of the same round of cuts. Kingad’s 11-6 promotional record included a flyweight title challenge in 2017 and a decade of consistent appearances at the top of the division, but three straight losses ultimately ended his tenure. Kang Ji Won departs with a 4-4 record after a similarly difficult recent run.
READ MORE: Mia Trevorrow Makes ONE Championship Debut Against Kokoz At The Inner Circle On May 15
Recent posts
