ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade didn’t take long to win his return to the all-encompassing sport after an even quicker finish of old foe #3-ranked contender Kwon Won Il this time around.
Facing the South Korean in a rematch at ONE 170: Tawanchai vs. Superbon II, the Brazilian world-beater needed only 42 seconds to finish him. While doing so, he showed no signs of slowing down as he entertained the highly active crowd inside Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, January 24, with his accurate and deadly striking.
Now back to the sport he rules after a short side trip into the striking arts, Andrade wants to continue to work on his legacy in MMA.
“I would choose to stay active in MMA. I think I still have a lot of room for improvement,” Andrade said.
“I think I am not at my best yet. I want to defend my belt at least three times more this year and whoever ONE Championship wants me to fight, I will fight.”
Up next, he could face #2-ranked contender Stephen “The Sniper” Loman, someone he was supposed to fight before he made a detour toward kickboxing to try his shot at two-sport supremacy.
He’s willing to give Loman a shot now, so it’s all a matter of whether the promotion will make it happen.
“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],” he said.
The Best In The World
Before his successful World Title defense against Kwon, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong called Andrade the best bantamweight MMA fighter in the world, and “Wonder Boy” responded by fighting like it.
He was quick, calculated, but remained highly aggressive – and he had answers to everything the vengeful Kwon threw at him.
A beautiful left hook to the body to counter an overcommitting Kwon did the job for Andrade this time, and that’s the type of performance he wants to have each time he steps into the Circle.
“Right now I just want to be the best I can be. I feel like what Chatri said, I am the best bantamweight in the world. And I want to prove that. And to prove that, I need to keep putting performances like I did tonight,” he said.
“I cannot just like have good fights. I need to go there and finish my opponents in a nice way. And doing that, I will prove that I’m the best bantamweight in the world across any organization.”