Fabricio Andrade on praise from Demetrious Johnson: “It just motivates me to train hard”

Fabricio Andrade’s ONE bantamweight MMA world title success didn’t go unnoticed by the mixed martial arts fraternity. In fact, MMA GOAT contender Demetrious Johnson has been one of his biggest fans since the Brazilian fighter finally laid his hands on the coveted gold.

After wreaking havoc in the division, with four finishes from five fights, ‘Wonder Boy’ stepped up to challenge Lineker for the vacant world title at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October last year.

Cruel as it was, an accidental strike forced the match to become a no contest.

Not wanting to waste another opportunity, the 26-year-old sharpened his craft and bested ‘Hands of Stone’ to become the divisional king when they ran it back at ONE Fight Night 7 in February 2023.

Everything the HIIT Studio and Marrok Force athlete displayed was spot-on inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Johnson was one of the first to extol praise on the Brazilian fighter for his successful outing.

Though the pair haven’t completely kept in touch since that life-changing night for Fabricio Andrade, mutual respect is still very much in place between both ONE world champions.

Ahead of his firefight with Jonathan Haggerty for the vacant kickboxing world title, ‘Wonder Boy’ touched on what it means to receive praise from the 15-time MMA world champion and how it keeps him at the top of his game.

He told The MMA Superfan:

“He's been an amazing person, you know. He's always been talking good about me, and he is like a very motivational person for me. To see a guy like him talk good things about me, saying I'm a good talent and that I can be a big name like he is, it just motivates me to train hard and keep doing what I'm doing.”

Watch the interview here:

Catch Fabricio Andrade in action against Haggerty in the main event of ONE Fight Night 16. North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire card live and for free in U.S. primetime on Friday, November 3.