"A big accomplishment" - Fabricio Andrade raves about ONE Championship's successful debut in Qatar

ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade watched in awe as ONE Championship made its official on-ground debut in Qatar at ONE 166 on March 1.

The Evolve MMA and Tiger Muay Thai athlete, still recovering from an injury he picked up from his last contest, would have loved to be part of a historic night in ONE.

But given the situation, all he could do was watch from the television screen as some of the best stars on the roster went to work in the Middle East.

The 26-year-old shared his thoughts on the card in a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA.

Fabricio Andrade stated:

"Yes, I tuned in, of course. You know, it was amazing. Qatar has been the home for the World Cup, now ONE Championship. So it's such a big accomplishment in that sense."

The 10-match fight card, which emanated live from the Lusail Sports Arena, lived up to its hype despite some unfortunate incidents that saw Arjan Bhullar receive a red card and Jarred Brooks being handed a DQ for an accidental spike to Joshua Pacio.

Capping off the event in typical fashion, Anatoly Malykhin achieved what no man has ever done in the history of MMA by adding the middleweight world title to his collection with a third-round finish of Reinier de Ridder.

With the win, the undefeated Russian superstar became MMA's first-ever three-division world champion.

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Fabricio Andrade eager to get back into action

After being forced to sit on the sidelines since his world title loss to Jonathan Haggerty in November last year, the bantamweight MMA king is eager to get back into the thick of the action.

Despite his eagerness to compete, Fabricio Andrade understands the importance of being at 100 percent after he revealed that he was carrying an injury into his clash against 'The General.'

In a separate interview with Sportskeeda MMA, he revealed:

"After the fight [with John Lineker], I came to Brazil. I went to see a doctor, and I found out that I had a hernia on my neck. I'm treating it and doing a lot of physiotherapy and waiting to go back, like to feel strong again. Then, I'm gonna go back to fighting."

When he does get the clear, fans can expect another trademark performance from 'Wonder Boy' on the global stage of ONE Championship.