“I got a bit confused” – Fabricio Andrade admits he lost sight of his MMA ambitions after becoming bantamweight king

It is easy to lose sight of some things when you’re on top of the world, and Fabricio Andrade believes that has been the case since he became the ONE bantamweight MMA world champion.

The Brazilian’s run to the top had its fair share of turmoil, but through it all The Evolve MMA and Tiger Muay Thai athlete rose to the occasion with five consecutive wins and four highlight-reel finishes.

After suffering a no-contest result against John Lineker at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October 2022, ‘Wonder Boy’ returned with another trademark performance to finish ‘Hands of Stone’ in February last year to become the divisional king.

He, however, feels that something has just been lacking inside of him since that momentous night in Bangkok, Thailand.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Fabricio Andrade said:

“I still got a lot of things that I want to do. But I think after I won the belt, I got a bit confused, you know. Because when you want something so bad, you keep doing everything for that, and when you get that, then you forget about everything else.”

Watch the full interview here:

Though he did look at his sparkling best against Lineker, the Brazilian striker was perhaps referring to the knockout loss he suffered to Jonathan Haggerty in his second outing last year.

As much as it was a bitter pill to swallow, the 26-year-old vows to use that result to push him to greater heights in 2024.

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Fabricio Andrade open to superfights with Rodtang, Takeru, and Superlek

Fabricio Andrade knows he will have his hands full when he gets his calendar year off and running. But the Brazilian remains motivated to challenge himself whenever possible.

A bantamweight MMA world title contest should be in the works, while a Haggery rematch for the kickboxing crown could come to fruition if he has cleared the top contenders in either division.

Looking beyond that, though, Fabricio Andrade says he wouldn’t turn down a chance to meet a couple more elite strikers, namely Superlek, Rodtang, and Takeru – only if he’s ticked off his main goal on the global stage.

In the same interview, Fabricio Andrade shared:

“I like to challenge myself, you know. So that would be an option as well, but, yeah, right now, I need to stay focused in MMA. I already got a lot of people calling me out in MMA.”