“I bring everything in a fight” - Fabricio Andrade says array of weapons will be too much for John Linekerv

ONE bantamweight second-ranked contender Fabricio Andrade doesn’t just want to dethrone divisional king John Lineker; he also aims to become the first fighter to knock him out in his MMA career.

After going unbeaten in his first five bouts inside the circle, ‘Wonder Boy’ will finally get an opportunity to strike gold when he takes on ‘Hands of Stone’ for the ONE bantamweight world title in the co-main event of ONE on Prime Video 3.

The stacked card, which also features a ONE middleweight world championship bout between Reiner de Ridder and Shamil Abdulaev, will air on October 21, US primetime, at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ahead of the biggest fight of his life, Fabricio Andrade remained confident that he’ll somehow find Lineker’s chin and add him to his list of knockout victims. The 24-year-old Tiger Muay Thai fighter said in an interview with SCMP MMA:

“For me, it doesn’t really matter how I’m gonna finish him because my style, I bring everything in a fight. I bring kicks, I bring knees, I bring punches, I bring elbows, you know? So it is what I’m going to bring for him as well. I will throw everything at him and I can finish the fight at any time.”

Watch the full interview below:

Lineker, of course, prides himself on being able to dish and take an insane amount of damage during his fights. The Brazilian berserker aggressively moves forward because he knows his iron chin can take the hit.

On the other hand, Fabricio Andrade has finished his last three opponents by way of scary first-round destruction. The world title challenger’s striking arsenal was in full display against Kwon Won Il in his last outing, as he dropped the Korean with a well-timed body kick.

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Fabricio Andrade has been angling for a John Lineker fight since the beginning

Andrade’s fascination for fighting Lineker didn’t just start when he became a ONE world champion. Turns out, ‘Wonder Boy’ had his eye on his fellow Brazilian the moment he signed with the promotion in 2019.

He revealed in the same interview:

“I’ve been saying that for a long time. I asked to fight the guy after my debut in ONE Championship in 2020 when I beat Mark Abelardo. I knew he was the guy in ONE Championship that [is] the best guy in this division and straight away, I wanted to fight him. Maybe the fans thought that I was just trying to sell the fight when I said that I was going to finish him in the first round but it is what I believe and it is what I’m going to do."

To be fair, Fabricio Andrade was a relatively unknown fighter at the time, so Lineker probably just brushed off the call-out since he had nothing to gain from that fight.

Three years later, Andrade evolved into an absolute killer and ensured Lineker couldn’t deny his claim this time.