Fabricio Andrade says Jonathan Haggerty super fight came at the right time in his career: “It’s a perfect fight”

Fabricio Andrade believes he’s at a pivotal point in his career, and his impending super fight against Jonathan Haggerty for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title happened at the perfect time.

The reigning ONE bantamweight world champion will face Haggerty, the ONE Muay Thai world champion, in the main event of ONE Fight Night 16 on November 3 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

While the notion of having two world champions face each other is already enticing enough, the fact that both Andrade and Haggerty are in their athletic primes makes things all the more interesting.

Andrade and Haggerty are both only 26 years old, yet they’ve already achieved so much notoriety in their respective fields.

In an interview with FightWave, Andrade said his fight against Haggerty just fell perfectly in place relative to where he is in career.

He said:

“It’s a perfect fight. He’s excited, he’s young too, I’m young as well, so I think the matchup is perfect for me.”

Andrade was an accomplished kickboxer and Muay Thai artist before he made the full transition to MMA. After establishing an impressive 40-3 record across the two striking disciplines, ‘Wonderboy’ decided to try his luck at the multi-faceted sport.

While he was practically a newcomer to MMA, Andrade showed that he was a natural in his new field. The Brazilian star is a perfect 6-0 in ONE Championship (1 no-contest) with four knockouts and one submission to his name.

Andrade fell short in his bid for gold when his first fight against John Lineker for the vacant ONE bantamweight MMA world title ended in a no-contest.

Following the disappointing heartbreak, Andrade came back with a vengeance and claimed the bantamweight MMA throne with a fourth-round technical knockout win over Lineker in their rematch at ONE Fight Night 7.

Haggerty, meanwhile, has two of the most iconic world title wins in Muay Thai history.

‘The General’ first became the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion when he beat the legendary Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in May 2019.

After relinquishing the strap to current ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Haggerty decided to move up to bantamweight after he suffered a couple of health scares trying to make the flyweight limit.

That decision quickly paid off, and Haggerty became a two-division world champion when he knocked out the iconic Nong-O Hama for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE Fight Night 9.

ONE Fight Night 16 is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

Watch Andrade's entire interview below: