Brazil’s John Lineker was released from his UFC contract according to a report from MMA Junkie.
The diminutive bantamweight fought under the UFC banner 16 times, posting a record of 12-4.
Despite that Octagon activity, Lineker has only competed three times since 2016 – something which frustrated the Brazilian.
My last opponent fought 4 times in a year. He already has another fight! Sean likes him! I have fought only 4 times since 2016! I need to fight! If you dont like me or my style just let me go!!! @MMAjunkie @seanshelby @danawhite @Alexdavismma @ufc @MMAFighting @sherdogdotcom
— John Lineker (@johnlineker) May 29, 2019
“Hands of Stone,” who boasts a crazy, all-action style which has won him plenty of admirers since his UFC debut in 2012, was booked for a rematch with Rob Font shortly after he posted the above Twitter rant.
However, the pulled out of that contest hours before he was due to weigh in prior to the event in June, having supposedly suffered a facial cut while losing weight.
That wasn’t the first time Lineker had a mishap relating to his weight cuts.
As a flyweight, Lineker missed weight four times while posting a record of 6-2. He was then rightly forced to compete as a bantamweight, where he also missed weight on one occasion, and finished his UFC tenure as a bantamweight with another 6-2 record.
While on the UFC roster, Lineker scored wins over the likes of former UFC title challengers Ian McCall, Michael McDonald and John Dodson, as well as the aforementioned Font, Francisco Rivera, Marlon Vera and Brian Kelleher. His two losses and bantamweight came against former champion T.J. Dillashaw and surging 135er Cory Sandhagen.
At present, the UFC hasn’t commented on Lineker’s release to provide any reasoning behind the decision.
