After more than a year due to lingering injuries, Fabricio Andrade is excited to get back to work and show off what he's learned during his time away.
On Friday, January 24, 'Wonder Boy' will put his ONE bantamweight MMA world championship on the line in a rematch with South Korean star Kwon Won Il at ONE 170 inside Bangkok's iconic Impact Arena.
It will be Andrade's first time competing since failing to claim a second ONE world title against Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night at ONE Fight Night 16. In the time since, Andrade has been hard at work in the gym, learning new tools that he's excited to show off on martial arts' biggest global stage in 2025.
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"My aim is just to try to enjoy the fight as it goes and I want to try and do everything that I want to show in this fight, for the fans," he told Sportskeeda MMA in a recent interview. "I want to try new things that I have implemented in my game in this fight."
Fabricio Andrade hopes his rematch with Kwon Won Il lasts longer than the first time
Fabricio Andrade's impending defense of the ONE bantamweight MMA world title against Kwon Won Il will be the second-ever meeting between the two — the first coming more than two years ago at ONE 158 in Singapore.
On that night, 'Wonder Boy' ended things early, folding 'Pretty Boy' with a brutal body kick 62 seconds into their scrap.
This time around, Andrade hopes to make their fight last a little longer, but with a similar result.
"To be honest, I’m not specifically looking for the [early] KO, you know," Andrarde admitted. "I need more time inside the circle as well."