ONE Championship Rankings Update: John Lineker to #1 at Bantamweight, Lightweight Rankings Shakeup

Published 12/09/2020, 4:03 AM EST

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ONE Championship (ONE) is on track for a spectacular December, with a handful of shows left on offer to close out the year

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 #1 contender Kevin Belingon at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX III last 13 November to take the top spot at bantamweight. Belingon, on the other hand, fell to the #3 position, just behind Japan’s Shoko Sato.

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“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. If it is God’s plan, I will very soon be the ONE World Champion,” said Lineker.

Over at lightweight, Russian powerhouse Timofey Nastyukhin and Japanese legend Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki both move up a notch to claim the #3 and #4 spots respectively, while former ranked athlete Pieter Buist exits the Top 5. Meanwhile, undefeated Lowen Tynanes of the United States enters the lightweight rankings at the #5 position.

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Varun Khanna

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Starting off as a tennis author in 2018, Varun Khanna has gone on to contribute to EssentiallySports in various capacities. After setting up interviews with the likes of Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Alizé Cornet, and Noah Rubin, Varun is now part of all major ATP and WTA press conferences and has gone on to pen more than 1300 articles for EssentiallySports. He now heads the tennis and NBA division of the organization.
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