By Chamatkar Sandhu
John Lineker has missed weight in three out of his last five UFC appearances so when he started to work with Mike Dolce it looked as though he was taking things more seriously and getting the necessary help he required. Speaking to MMAFighting.com Linekar’s manager Alex Davis explains why they made the decision to leave Dolce head of his bout with Ali Bagautinov at UFC 169 on February 1st.was doing great with his new diet, but he is no longer working with Mike Dolce.
“It got a little impracticable to work with Mike Dolce because of the distance and the communication barrier. He started the diet, but it was tough to continue, so we decided to work with Dr. Marcio Aranha, a great professional from Curitiba. Lineker is lighter than ever going into a fight. He’s doing great. Dr. Aranha identified the problem and fixed it. He’s amazing now.”
“(Aranha) changed his diet and worked on his anxiety. That’s something I didn’t know. Sometimes, when you get too anxious, it affects your weight cut. When you get closer to the weigh-ins and think you won’t make weight, you start producing cortisol and retain more liquid than you normally would.”
“Now, Lineker won’t get there too heavy. He used to weight 147 pounds two weeks before the fight, and he’s at 140 today. We’re going to American Top Team on Wednesday to finish the training camp.”
Lineker is on a hot streak having won four in a row in the UFC with three consecutive knockouts, and Davis claims training at ATT has given him the required preparation for Bagautinov.
“We have to praise his team in Paranagua in Brazil, but you get to a point where it’s hard to fight guys at Bagautinov’s level, Demetrious Johnson’s, without leaving Paranagua. The major issue in Brazil is lack of training structure. He trained at ATT for his last fight and felt how it’s like to have a team around you, and he will have it again this time.”
With a win, Alex David believes Lineker would be next in line for a flyweight title shot versus Demetrious Jonson.
“If he goes there, makes weight and wins in a good fight, he will fight for the title. But we should remember that the Russian also wants to win to earn a shot at the title. He’s really tough, we need to respect him. But I believe in John. He will do another great fight, but we need to do everything the right way.”
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