John Lineker And Liam Harrison Set For Epic Muay Thai Encounter At ONE Fight Night 18

While 2023 still has plenty of action to keep ONE Championship fans entertained, 2024 begins with a firecracker of its own. ONE Fight Night 18, the promotion’s first event of the year, is set to go down on Saturday, 13th January, and it will feature former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John Lineker taking part in his first Muay Thai matchup against British striking icon Liam “Hitman” Harrison. 

The frantic firefight will take place inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and the announcement was met with overwhelming excitement from the combat sports world.

Lineker is undoubtedly one of the hardest hitters to ever compete in MMA, having amassed a colossal 18 knockouts in his legendary career.

Four of those finishes have been during his ONE tenure, with the most significant coming against Bibiano Fernandes, who he put down to win the bantamweight MMA gold at ONE: LIGHTS OUT in March 2022.

Lineker vacated the coveted strap after failing to make weight ahead of his first meeting with current World Champion Fabricio Andrade last October, and he fell short in his bid to recapture it when he came up against “Wonder Boy” a second time this past January at ONE on Prime Video 3.

But “Hands of Stone” has returned to fearsome form since then by putting together back-to-back wins in his last two fights against Kim Jae Woong and Stephen Loman, respectively.

He now sits as the top contender to Andrade’s throne. But before he goes down that road, Lineker will enter the world of Muay Thai, and his first opponent there will be the textbook opposite of slouch.

A four-time World Champion, “Hitman” has been the flagbearer for British Muay Thai in ONE Championship for many years. He has hundreds of bouts under his belt in “the art of eight limbs, and his ONE 2022 Muay Thai Fight of the Year against Muangthai PK Saenchai is regularly referred to as the best battle the sport has ever seen.

Those victories in ONE earned Harrison a shot at former bantamweight Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama last August, but his burning momentum had cold water chucked on it in the first frame when the Thai legend demolished “Hitman’s” leg with a kick, leaving him on the sideline until now.

But in typical fashion, Harrison wants the toughest fight on offer in ONE for his return to action and there aren’t many who could offer more of a striking challenge for him in the organisation than Lineker, so fans should expect a total firefight when this one goes down on 13th January.

More bouts are expected to be announced for ONE Fight Night 18 in the coming weeks.