Top bantamweight contender Fabricio Andrade is chasing a world title and he's hoping to win the belt in his second home, Bangkok.
'Wonder Boy' is scheduled to run it back with John Lineker at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video. The two competitors will battle for the vacant bantamweight strap.
Fabricio Andrade has been training at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand for several years. With that, the 25-year-old is looking forward to performing in what he describes as his second home.
He told The MMA Superfan:
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"Yeah, 100 percent. When I got the news that I was fighting in Bangkok, I got really happy, really excited. I've been living in Thailand for five years. This is basically my second home. Honestly, if I had to pick a place besides Brazil to fight in, it would be Thailand. I'm very happy to fight here."
The upcoming title fight will be Andrade's first time competing in Thailand since his ONE Championship debut against Mark Abelardo in July 2020.
Fabricio Andrade says mistakes on his part led to John Lineker's moderate success in taking him down
Just as Andrade predicted in the lead-up to their first meeting, he outstruck Lineker in the early sequences of the bout. So much so that John Lineker altered his game plan and shot for takedowns to close the distance.
The rising superstar believes that his own mistakes led to Lineker having some success with his level changes. In the same interview, Andrade said:
"He was a little bit successful on the takedowns, that's the only reason why I would believe he will try them more because that was mostly where he was successful. But it was just also caused by mistakes on my part because I was a bit anxious and rushed it a little bit."
Andrade realized a lot of success using his reach advantage to control the distance and land his power shots. 'Wonder Boy' will look to keep the rematch standing as it's his best path to victory.
Make sure to tune in to ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24 to watch the highly anticipated rematch between Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker for the vacant bantamweight world title, live from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand.
Check out Fabricio Andrade's full conversation with The MMA Superfan below: