John Lineker’s reign of terror continues in his new home at ONE Championship.
In his third promotional appearance, Lineker used effective body work throughout the opening round, which led to a big knockdown and a fight ending right hand to a grounded Troy Worthen, putting him out cold at the 4:35 mark of the first round in the main event of ONE on TNT 3. With his second consecutive finish, the Brazilian powerhouse improved to 3-0 under the ONE banner since moving over from the UFC.
Lineker dug to the body of Worthen with powerful punches to begin the fight. After a short break in the action due to an accidental low blow, Lineker continued to target the midsection and legs of Worthen. Less than 90 seconds in, Worthen was showing the effects of Lineker’s works with welts on his midsection. Worthen would hang tough, but every time he threw a strike, Lineker answered with a barrage of body shots over and over again. “Hands of Stone” started to score to the face of Worthen as the opening round continued before briefly dropping the American with a leg kick.
With a little over 30 seconds left in the first, Lineker landed a piston of a right hand to drop Worthen. A follow up right hand put Worthen out.
After the win, Lineker called out current bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes.
“I came here to be a champion,” Lineker said. “I want Bibiano to show that I’m better than him, and that I’m the best in the world.
The main card broadcast on TNT opened up with a flyweight bout between Reece McLaren and Yuya Wakamatsu. The Japanese standout came out heavy shots looking to get the fight finished quickly. McLaren was able to get through the aggressive start from Wakamatsu, ending the opening round with full mount, hard elbows, and multiple submission attempts.
Wakamatsu turned things back on in the second and had McLaren in some trouble on the feet. McLaren would open the third looking to get the fight to the mat, but Wakamatsu showed excellent takedown defense, making McLaren pay every chance he could get, including some vicious knees in the final 30 seconds of the fight. After 15 minutes, all the judges saw it for Wakamatsu.
In the final preliminary bout, Ok Rae Yoon earned a decision win over Marat Gafarov. With his third straight win, the South Korean fighter will face former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at next week’s ONE on TNT 4 event.
Get full ONE on TNT 3 results below:
John Lineker def. Troy Worthen via KO (punches) – Round 1, 4:35
Yuya Wakamatsu def. Reece McLaren via unanimous decision
Preliminary card
Ok Rae Yoon def. Marat Gafarov via unanimous decision
Miao Li Tao def. Ryuto Sawada via unanimous decision
Nieky Holzken def. John Wayne Parr via KO (kick) – Round 2, 1:23 (muay thai)