“I don’t think this will reach the scorecards” - Jeremy Pacatiw offers his thoughts on the John Lineker-Fabricio Andrade match

ONE bantamweight fighter Jeremy Pacatiw knows firsthand how dangerous Fabricio Andrade can be inside the circle. The 26-year-old Filipino fighter, after all, is among the casualties of the streaking Brazilian’s impeccable 5-0 run under the ONE banner.

That hot streak earned ‘Wonder Boy’ a world title shot against the fearsome divisional king John Lineker in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 3 this Friday, October 21, at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, ‘The Juggernaut’ broke down the highly-anticipated fight between the two certified knockout artists. He shared:

“I don’t think this will reach the scorecards. They’re very dangerous fighters, and both are very hard-hitting fighters. I experienced Fabricio Andrade’s power first-hand, I think he’s really strong.”

The Team Lakay standout continued:

“For Lineker, maybe it will be the same, because he’s always looking to brawl. From what I know about Andrade, he probably won’t take too many risks in that fight. He will time his knee well, because that’s what he’s been doing in his previous fights. I think he’ll go for either a knee or a heavy strike to the body.”

After a successful ONE debut against Chen Rui last year, Pacatiw was given the biggest test of his career when he was matched up against Fabricio Andrade this past February.

Given both fighters’ strong striking backgrounds, they went at it right away and traded massive bombs from the opening bell. While Pacatiw was able to mount an offense of his own, Andrade’s shots were noticeably crisper, faster, and more damaging. After sizing up his opponent, the Tiger Muay Thai standout landed a perfectly-timed knee to the body as Pacatiw threw an overhand right.

The Filipino was a picture of agony as he slumped against the Circle wall, forcing the referee to stop the bout around the three-and-half minute mark of round one.

Watch the full fight below:

‘Wonder Boy’ followed that up with another first-round victory, dispatching Kwon Won Il in a similar manner by way of another crushing body blow. Pacatiw, however, remains uncertain about Andrade’s chances against the hard-hitting Lineker.

Asked about a prediction, the Igorot fighter had this to say:

“There’s no other way this match ends but with a knockout. I just don’t know who’s going to win. I think whoever lands the first significant strike will win.”

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Jeremy Pacatiw says Fabricio Andrade is a ‘world champion-caliber fighter’

While accepting defeat is always a tough pill to swallow, Pacatiw feels no shame in coming up short against a formidable opponent like Fabricio Andrade. After all, the man who bested him may just become the best fighter in the promotion’s 145-pound ranks.

Skill-wise, Pacatiw believes Fabricio Andrade has all the tools at his disposal to make this a reality.

He said in the same interview:

“What makes Andrade really good is his timing and his patience in his matches. During our match, he really waited for me to make a mistake before he unleashed his knee. You could see how perfectly he timed that. I’ll be the one to tell you, that was not a lucky shot. He really timed my attack. I slipped, and he took advantage of it. But I think he’s really a world champion-caliber fighter. He’s really good.”