After two wins in his first two Muay Thai bouts ever, John Lineker has been booked for another, this time against lifelong Thai boxer Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek-U-Thai, per sources.
This three round four-ounce Muay Thai affair will go down on ONE Championship’s first major card of 2025, ONE Fight Night 27 on January 11th in Bangkok, Thailand’s famous Lumpinee Stadium.
Lineker was a top-ranked bantamweight with the UFC for some time before signing with ONE in 2019. He won four straight fights and captured their bantamweight MMA title before losing it. After losing to Shinya Aoki in an openweight bout, ‘Hands of Stone’ tried his hand at Muay Thai.
In an epic brawl at ONE’s flagship event in Denver, Colorado, Lineker knocked out American farang Asa Ten Pow in a huge upset before doing the same to Russia’s Alekey Balyko in the first round in Thailand.
John Lineker finishes Asa Ten Pow #ONE168 pic.twitter.com/Vz3Evq579n
— Haduucken (@Haduuuucken) September 7, 2024
Lineker will look to build on that success and turn what appeared at first to be a gimmick or one-off into becoming a legitimate presence in ONE Championship’s 145-lb Muay Thai division.
However, Kulabdam will be like no other striker the career mixed martial artist has faced. Lineker may have heavy hands and unmatched aggression for MMA, but a Nak Muay with 106 professional fights, 76 wins, and two Lumpinee Stadium belts is an entirely different ballgame.
Kulabdam is coming off of a win over Suablack after losses to former champion Nong-O and rising ranked talent Nabil Anane. He has a 6-3 (1 NC) record in ONE Friday Fights; this will be his debut on a ONE Fight Night card on Amazon Prime.
Devastating finish by Kulabdam ? Who else saw that knockout coming? ?
? Watch the full ONE Friday Fights 81 event replay on https://t.co/eBUfsOlZOd (geo-restrictions may apply) pic.twitter.com/25caCC6cgY
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 7, 2024
This bout will be one of the undercard bouts when Chinese striking standout Tang Kai defends his featherweight MMA championship against Kyrgyzstan’s undefeated Akbar Abdullaev.
The only other fight officially announced for ONE Fight Night 27 thus far is Denice Zamboanga vs Alyona Rassohyna.
