ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Fabricio Andrade made an incredible return to action at ONE 170 last weekend.
After 14 months out, the Brazilian star tore through #3-ranked contender Kwon Won Il inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Impact Arena on Friday, 24th January, in a rematch of their first encounter two and a half years ago, to extend his reign atop the stacked division.
Andrade went 2-0 against his South Korean foe in style by finishing him with a brutal liver shot just 47 seconds into the co-main bout, which was a full 15 seconds faster than last time.
Despite the impressive showing, “Wonder Boy” admitted in his post-fight interview that it wasn’t the fight that he’d planned for. But he was happy to adapt on the fly.
“Yeah, I thought he was going to shoot for the takedown. But I didn’t expect him to strike and come forward,” Andrade said.
“I thought he would strike going backward and then shoot for takedowns. But when I saw that he came to fight, so I needed to fight fire with fire.”
The win was a return to form for the 27-year-old. Last time out, he suffered a knockout loss against Jonathan Haggerty when they clashed for the then-vacant ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title at ONE Fight Night 16.
Andrade was sidelined with a litany of injuries from there. But Friday’s comeback performance has been lauded by many as him at his best, even if the bantamweight MMA king disagrees.
He believes there’s still work to do and wants to be as active as possible in 2025. As for what’s next, “Wonder Boy” is interested in finally squaring off with #2-ranked contender Stephen Loman, though he says he'll leave it up to the ONE fightmakers.
“I would choose to stay active in MMA. I think I still have a lot of room for improvement. I think I am not in my best yet. I want to defend my belt at least three times more this year and whoever ONE Championship want me to fight, I will fight,” Andrade said.
“I was meant to fight Loman last time, so if ONE Championship wants me to do that, I will do it. But it’s up to ONE Championship and Chatri [Sityodtong, ONE Chairman and CEO].”
