(Exclusive) Champion Fabricio Andrade "Very Excited" for MMA Return at ONE 170

The Brazilian is one of two defending champions set to compete at ONE 170.
(ONE Championship)

It’s been almost two years since Fabricio Andrade last competed in MMA, and MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré had the chance to speak with “Wonder Boy” ahead of his bantamweight title defense at ONE 170.

"I Didn't Expect To Be Away From MMA For That Long"

Andrade’s first seven fights in ONE Championship were MMA bouts, and after fighting Jonathan Haggerty for the promotion’s vacant bantamweight kickboxing title in November 2023 he’s eager to return at ONE 170 and showcase everything he’s been working on in training.

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“I’m very excited, I didn’t expect to be away from MMA for that long. But there’s some stuff that we cannot control, and now I’m just happy that I’m finally ready to fight again. And I’ve been working since my last fight, I had some injuries, but as soon as I recovered I was straight back training...Because I took a little time away from grappling to fight the kickboxing, after that I was very hungry to train, to work on my grappling. Because I know I had to keep improving, and that was actually good because as soon as I was back I felt like something different, like I wanted to learn more because I had that time off. So I was hungry to train and learn, and I felt like my improvements on my wrestling and jiu-jitsu has been awesome. And even now that I come back [to Thailand] and training with a lot of Dagestan, Russia, Kazakhstan guys, you know that are top wrestlers, I feel that my game has improved a lot through these past two years that I have been away from MMA.”

Rematch With Kwon Won Il

The Brazilian will be standing across from a familiar face at ONE 170 in Kwon Won Il, who has stopped three-straight opponents since Andrade finished him with a body kick just over a minute into their first meeting at ONE Championship 158 in 2022.

“[The first fight] was like very fast...I was able to connect the kick on the beginning of the fight and finish the fight. So I cannot take much things from that fight, because finish so early and I cannot expect that this time I’m gonna also finish him that early. But there’s some things that I can take from the fight, is that stuff that I did in my training camp and how I was feeling before that fight. And also, I can take that he doesn’t have a strong body, that I was able to knock him out on the body...On his last three fights he showed improvement I felt like on his grappling. I think his [striking] is still almost the same, he didn’t have much improvement in his striking, But he showed improvement on his grappling, he fought a good Russian opponent and he was able to defend the takedowns...I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to wrestle me in this fight. But besides that, I don’t see a lot of improvement on his striking coming for this fight."

Andrade Aims To Reach "Full Potential In MMA"

Andrade did have plenty of kickboxing and Muay Thai experience prior to his fight with Haggerty, and while he’s open to more ONE Championship crossover fights in the future he’s currently focused on settling back into MMA with a highly-anticipated title defense.

“I’m excited to get back to MMA, especially because now I just have 11 MMA fights, so I’m still very early in my career. I have a lot of things that I can still improve. So I think now I need to focus more on the MMA and stay improving, because I feel like I still didn’t reach my prime and I need to work more on my grappling, on my striking to become a well-rounded fighter. And then eventually I’m gonna reach my full potential in MMA. The crossover is something that’s always interesting in ONE, but it takes a lot of time from you. Because I did the fight [with Haggerty], I’ve been away from MMA for a long time. So if it's in a good time, I will always be down to do that. But for now, my mental is all focusing on becoming a better MMA fighter.”

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Plans For 2025 And Message To Fans

With a long-awaited return to action in sight, Andrade is looking forward to a busy 2025 and intends to put on a show for the fans when he meets Il at ONE 170.

“I just wanna be active. I think that’s what every fighter wants, is to be active. And hopefully now after this fight I’ll have no injures, and straight back into it. I want to fight three or four times this year, and stay active.”

“I just hope everybody watches this fight. I’m training a lot, working very hard for this fight, and I will do my best to put an awesome performance for the fans and I hope everybody is excited to watch me.”

ONE 170 will take place at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on January 24. In addition to the rematch between Andrade and Il, the card also features an interim bantamweight Muay Thai title bout between Nico Carillo and Nabil Anane and a headlining rematch between ONE Featherweight Muay Thai Champion Tawanchai and Superbon.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.