John Lineker on move to bantamweight: I still have to cut 30 pounds!

Maybe his hands really are "Stone."

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) flyweight contender John Lineker, who was kicked out of the 125-pound weight class after failing to hit the division limit on multiple occasions, will now move up to bantamweight, by order of promotion president Dana White.

Not that it makes life any easier for the Brazilian.

That's because Lineker will still have to cut 30 pounds to make 135, according to his conversation with MMA Fighting, but since bantamweight is what he considers to be his natural weight class, there is a pretty strong chance he makes his mark without incident.

His words:

"I will have to cut 30 pounds to fight at 135. I used to cut 40 to fight at flyweight. Bantamweight is my original weight class. I only cut down to 125 for the opportunity to fight in the UFC. The division was new in the UFC and they were looking for fighters. I had a good record, so they signed me. I thought about moving up to 135 a while ago, but my manager believed I could win the flyweight title, so we insisted. I believe I would be able to make 125, but only if I had five or six months between fights. I was cutting too much weight, and now they are forcing me to fight at 135. The boss told me to go to bantamweight, but I already wanted to move up. I don't believe it's going to be tougher at bantamweight because I have David inside of me. David beat giants, and I will beat everyone they put in front of me to get where I want."

I'm sure many fans will have a "believe it when I see it" mentality, based on his track record.

Lineker (25-7) was last seen taking a unanimous decision win over Ian McCall at the UFC 183 pay-per-view (PPV) event back in January, a fight that saw him miss weight by a whopping five pounds. Despite his chronic scale fails, the Brazilian is 6-1 dating back to late 2007.

Anyone think he can become a contender at bantamweight?