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Before he became one of the best MMA fighters in the world today, Fabricio Andrade first paid his dues in the unforgiving kickboxing circuit.
As such, he admires the handiwork of another terrific kickboxer who has taken the mixed martial arts world by storm, former UFC middleweight kingpin Alex Pereira.
Speaking in an appearance on FightWave’s YouTube page, the ONE bantamweight MMA world champion shared his deep admiration for his fellow Brazilian.
According to ‘Wonder Boy’, he was in awe of how ‘Poatan’ managed to seamlessly use his elite striking skills to find the same level of success in another combat sport. He said:
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"It’s about how to make some difference who watches you, that look up to you. Like how I look up to guys like Alex Pereira. Pereira also was a kickboxer before he went to MMA. I look up to those guys and I see how they motivated me.”
Moreover, Fabricio Andrade added that he’ll use Pereira’s journey as the blueprint for his own quest for two-sport supremacy at ONE Fight Night 16. He added:
“When I saw Pereira change sports and become a world champion, do something that people say he cannot do, it motivated me, and I know that feeling. Now I need to do the same so I can motivate all the people with all my actions and if one day they get there and be around those names is a dream. I hope I can motivate as many people as I can.”
While Pereira was a multi-time kickboxing world champion before striking gold in MMA, Andrade will seek a similar path albeit in a different order.
The Tiger Muay Thai product will contend for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing throne against his fellow bantamweight world champion in the Muay Thai ranks, Jonathan Haggerty.
If all goes well for Fabricio Andrade, he’ll leave Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok with two golden straps in tow on November 3.
ONE Fight Night 16 Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video will air live on US Primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America
Watch Fabricio Andrade’s full interview here:
