Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a tremendous movement in the ONE Championship Official Athlete Rankings, with major shakeups at bantamweight and lightweight.
Mixed martial arts veteran John “Hands of Stone” Lineker of Brazil scored a massive victory over former no. 1 contender Kevin Belingon at ONE: Inside The Matrix III last November 13 to take the top spot at bantamweight.
Belingon, on the other hand, fell to the no. 3, just behind Japan’s Shoko Sato.
“Being ranked number one makes me feel like a champion, but I am still not the owner of the belt. It feels great but my work isn’t finished. I won’t stop until I have that belt. I am coming for Bibiano Fernandes. That fight is what interests me. I will work hard and you can expect to see me victorious,” said Lineker, who is 31-9 in his career.
“If it is God’s plan, I will very soon be the ONE World Champion.”
The lightweight division also saw a huge shakeup in its ranks.
Russian powerhouse Timofey Nastyukhin and Japanese legend Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki both move up a notch to claim the no. 3 and 4 spots respectively.
Former ranked athlete Pieter Buist exits the Top Five as Lowen Tynanes climbed to the top five.
