A win can catapult the Team Lakay member to a possible title shot.
Filipino mixed martial artist Stephen Loman, out of action since November 2022, will be back in the circle later this year, and he will be facing quite a formidable foe in former ONE bantamweight champion John Lineker.
A veteran in combat sports, Lineker totes a 36-10 record in mixed martial arts, having previously fought in the UFC before becoming a fixture at ONE. He won the promotion’s bantamweight belt last year with a vicious knockout of Bibiano Fernandes, only to lose it on the scales in his very next fight versus the reigning ONE bantamweight king Fabricio Andrade.
Not for nothing that Loman considers his fight with the 33-year-old Brazilian as “one of the biggest fights” of his career, which has seen him compile a record of 17 wins against 2 defeats—mostly at PXC and Brave. He made his ONE debut only in December 2021 and has since won all three of his fights for the Singapore-based promotion.
Loman, ranked no. 2 at ONE’s stacked bantamweight division, is confident he has what it takes to overcome the hard-hitting Lineker.
“His punches are really hard, and he has knocked out a lot of fighters,” Loman said in a statement. “But I think that my punches are heavy as well, and if I can connect, I can knock him out.”
Loman’s bout will be a crucial one, as the Filipino will have the opportunity to inject life into Team Lakay, whose stable has been hit with some high-profile defections starting with the legendary Eduard Folayong leaving in March. Its great hope in Jhanlo Sangiao also suffered his first professional loss just this August, further compounding Team Lakay’s woes.
The fight will likely have potential championship implications, as both Loman and Lineker are contenders at bantamweight, which means whoever wins might have the inside track at a title bout versus Andrade.