“I will be representing South Korea” - Kwon Won Il eager to be the next Korean MMA world champion  

Kwon Won Il hopes to make his home country proud and bring 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold back home to South Korea.

On Friday, January 24, 'Pretty Boy' will have that chance when he meets the reigning and defending ONE bantamweight MMA world champion, Fabricio Andrade, at ONE 170 inside the iconic Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

With a lack of Korean world champions across the board, Kwon is making it his duty to not only represent his homeland but also bring an end to its lack of active combat sports titleholders.

"And right now, there is nobody who’s a Korean who has a championship belt in a major promotion right now, as of this moment," he said during an appearance on Anything Goes. "So I will be the only one to do that and I believe that I will be representing South Korea very well."

Watch the full interview:

That'll be no easy task for Kwon Won Il who already knows just how dangerous 'Wonder Boy' truly is.

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Will Kwon Won Il even the series against Fabricio Andrade at ONE 170?

ONE 170 won't be the first time Kwon Won Il has stepped inside the Circle with Fabricio Andrade.

The pair previously met in June 2022 when 'Wonder Boy' landed a vicious body kick 62 seconds into the scrap, folding Kwon and bringing an end to the bout.

Since then, 'Pretty Boy' has bounced back with a trio of highlight-reel KOs against Mark Abelardo, Artem Belakh, and Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg. Overall, Kwon is 14-4 in MMA — a record good enough to land him as the third-ranked contender in the bantamweight division.

Will the South Korean even the series and claim his first ONE world title, or will Andrade succeed in defending his title for the first time since taking it off John 'Hands of Stone' Lineker nearly two years ago?

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE 170: Tawanchai vs. Superbon II will air live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, January 24 in U.S. primetime.