Fabricio Andrade hopes Kwon Won Il lasts longer than he did in their first match: “I need more time”

While Fabricio Andrade loves to go for the kill as soon as possible, he hopes to get some more ring time in his upcoming return at ONE 170.

'Wonderboy' will defend his bantamweight MMA world title for the first time against an adversary he already vanquished before, Kwon Won Il, on Jan. 24 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

These two electric strikers traded heavy leather in an action-packed match at ONE 158 back in 2022, which was quite entertaining for as long as it lasted.

At the 1:02 mark of the opening round, Andrade uncorked a brutal liver kick that immediately folded 'Pretty Boy' and forced the referee to halt the match.

Given the swift nature of his previous victory over the South Korean, fans and pundits alike are expecting another quick night at the office for Fabricio Andrade.

The Tiger Muay Thai and Evolve MMA representative, however, revealed he wouldn't mind a longer battle since he wants to make the most of his comeback fight from a lengthy layoff.

Andrade said in a Sportskeeda MMA Exclusive:

"To be honest, I’m not specifically looking for the [early] KO, you know. I need more time inside the circle as well."

Prime Video subscribers in North America can watch ONE 170 free live as it happens in US primetime.

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Fabricio Andrade acknowledges Kwon Won Il's improvements

Another reason why Fabricio Andrade is not expecting a quick finish is because Kwon Won Il also grew immensely as a fighter.

The heavy-handed 29-year-old fixed the holes in his stand-up game, particularly his defense, along with making massive improvements in the grappling department:

"He’s made a lot of improvements since we last fought in his past fights. I think after he lost that fight against me, he went back to the gym, trained a lot to improve his striking and grappling game," Andrade told Sportskeeda.

That loss to Andrade woke the beast inside Kwon, as he scored three straight vicious finishes against Mark Abelardo, Artem Belakh, and Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg. 'Wonder Boy' added:

"That change showed in his last three performances. So yeah, he’s definitely improved and looked better over the past few fights."