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(Exclusive) Fabricio Andrade talks 2025 plans after incredible MMA return at ONE 170

Andrade kicked off the year with a highlight-reel finish in Bangkok.
Drew Beaupre|
(ONE Championship)

ONE Championship Bantamweight MMA Champion Fabricio Andrade returned to MMA in incredible fashion at ONE 170, and following his huge win the Brazilian spoke with MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré about his plans for the rest of 2025.

42-Second Finish At ONE 170

Returning to MMA for the first time since winning the ONE bantamweight belt against John Lineker in 2023, Andrade managed to outdo his previous first-round finish against Kwon Won Il when he stopped the South Korean in just 42 seconds.

“I [felt] really good, everything went just perfect. It was exactly as I planned. Not only the fight, but I think the whole fight camp. Everything just went as planned, and in the fight it just like – it showed that the work was done, you know?...It’s an amazing feeling, it’s just – everything went perfect, and it just feels so good.”

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Il entered his rematch with Andrade on a three-fight winning streak where he’d finished all of his opponent with strikes, but the aggressive way “Pretty Boy” came out at ONE 170 played right into the champion’s hands.

Fabricio Andrade made short work of Kwon Won Il in their rematch at ONE 170.
Fabricio Andrade made short work of Kwon Won Il in their rematch at ONE 170. | (ONE Championship)

“I thought he would be more defensive. But as soon as the fight started, he was straightaway like pressuring me, and he tried to throw a 1-2. So very fast, I knew like his strategy wasn’t to be defensive. Because I thought he would be defensive and try to shoot for takedowns. But he wasn’t that – he [came] forward, and then I knew I had to hit him strong. I had to earn his respect. And then I started to land the body kicks, and I think I threw – I realized he was throwing a 1-2 very often, and then I got the timing and I hit him with a knee, and straightaway I saw he put his arm down, so I knew he felt it. And after that, I just kept throwing shots and he went down.”

Fighting In Thailand At Impact Arena

Andrade’s rematch with Il was the second of three title fights featured at ONE 170, and “Wonder Boy” enjoyed every moment of being a part of a massive ONE Championship card at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

ONE 170 featured three title bouts at Bangkok's Impact Arena.
ONE 170 featured three title bouts at Bangkok's Impact Arena. | (ONE Championship)

“I did watch basically all the fights. I was in the separate room with Tawanchai, and they were all watching, the Thais were all watching on their phone. So it was kind of like, I was warming up and still looking at some of the fights. And even after I fought, I came back and changed and I went back to the stadium and then I watched Tawanchai live, and it was good man. The show was awesome, everything was awesome, you know? It was a very special show, they were making the movie and everything was very good quality, very nice. And the fights I think were also too, all three title fights were finishes, so it was a very good card. And the Thai fans, they were very good too. The people here really like and really support, so it was nice to fight at Impact Arena. I hope they make more events there, because the Thai fans are really nice. It was really nice to fight in Thailand in a big stadium.”

Ideal Schedule For 2025

The 27-year-old indicated after the stunning win that he’d like to defend his belt several more times this year, but first he’s taking some well-deserved time off and going home to Brazil before making preparations for his second fight of 2025.

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“I haven’t talked with [ONE] about [my next fight] yet...I have a flight to Brazil, so I take some to rest a little and recover my body as well. Because even though the fight was fast, it’s good that I’m already like back training, but I need to kind of get my body strong and then go through another fight camp. But I’m hoping to fight at least two or three times more this year, minimum two times. I want to be more active. And yeah, we will talk about opponents soon I’m sure.”

Fabricio Andrade aims to fight at least two or three times more this year.
Fabricio Andrade aims to fight at least two or three times more this year. | (ONE Championship)

“[No destinations] in mind. I like to fight [in Thailand] because I’ve been living here for like seven years, so it’s kind of like home for me. So it’s always good for me to fight here, but I can fight anywhere. It’s not a problem. I can go anywhere...I think there’s some stylistic [matchups], you can have some good fights in the division. But also like, the division, the rankings are only five people. Also, there’s a lot of fights happening in the next couple months, couple weeks, that we can see somebody that could be also a contender.”

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Crossover Fights & Short-Notice Opportunities

Andrade challenged Jonathan Haggerty for the ONE bantamweight kickboxing belt in between his fights with Lineker and Il, and while “Wonder Boy” is open to taking advantage of short-notice opportunities this year he does want to focus on his MMA career for the time being.

“The ideal time [for training camp] I would say would be like between three to four months. That’s enough time for you to do some strength training, get some – ‘cause you lose a lot of muscle going through the weight cut. So you need to build the muscle back and then get back training, and then get in the fight. But there’s situations that happen, like a fight got cancelled or something, so I think I’m always ready. If it’s a good opportunity, I will take it…I don’t think I would take a fight in a [different] sport, especially in [a short-notice] situation.

"Wonder Boy" is fully focused on his MMA career and defending his bantamweight title this year.
"Wonder Boy" is fully focused on his MMA career and defending his bantamweight title this year. | (ONE Championship)

“I just hope everybody enjoyed [my last fight]. I always try to put on a show when I’m in the cage. So thank you everybody for the support, and I hope to be back very soon.”

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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.

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