John Lineker says ‘half a dozen’ fighters ‘ran away’ before he got a bout at UFC Sao Paulo

UFC bantamweight John Lineker is grateful Marlon Vera accepted to fight him on Saturday.

UFC bantamweight John Lineker is glad he was able to get a fight in his home country. According to him, it was not easy for the UFC to find him an opponent, since about half a dozen of the ones who were offered the fight ended up turning it down. As he told Combate, he’s grateful Marlon Vera accepted it.

“My manager named several athletes I could fight,” Lineker said. “Some of them turned me down, some didn’t. Many ran away, actually, so I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m thankful Marlon and his team took the fight. All I can do is thank him for taking a fight that others wouldn’t. I won’t name any names, but there was half a dozen of them who declined fighting me in Brazil.

“I needed a fight as soon as possible. I was cleared in June, so I was inactive for a long time, that’s really bad for an athlete. I need to fight, no matter who it was against. Thank God Marlon accepted it.”

Even though he’s a top-5 bantamweight contender, John Lineker believes the main reason why nobody else would take the fight is because of the Brazilian crowd.

“I believe it was hard to find me an opponent because of my ranking position and the fight being in Brazil,” Lineker said. “I believe it was more because of it being in Brazil. The crowd is really relentless. That’s definitely a lot of pressure on them. The crowd goes crazy. Of course it’ll be just me and him in the Octagon, but it can really get to your psychological side. Still, I want them to cheer for me without disrespecting Marlon. We should show that us Brazilians know how to respect and value other athletes.”

John Lineker will take on Marlon Vera at UFC Fight Night 119 on October 28, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The card will be headlined by a middleweight fight between Lyoto Machida and Derek Brunson.