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Kwon Won Il admits losing to Fabricio Andrade, especially in the manner that it did, still stings even to this day.
Over two years since that ill-fated moment, the hyper-competitive warrior still carries around the anger from getting knocked out in less than a round.
At ONE 158 back in 2023, Kwon was just getting his groove on early in the fight up until a careless mistake left him open for a pinpoint liver kick from Andrade.
'Wonder Boy' capitalized and blasted the South Korean with a body shot missile that sent him crashing to the canvas in pain for the spectacular knockout victory.
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Recalling that haunting memory in a ONE Championship interview, 'Pretty Boy' admitted that the Brazilian lived in his head rent-free ever since.
“When I lost the first fight, I was really pissed off. I was really pissed off, and even angry, and all I could think about was that I really wanted to meet him again. That’s all I could think about.”
Kwon Won Il will bring all those frustrations this coming Friday when he meets his tormentor again at ONE 170 on Jan. 24 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 29-year-old sensation can hit two birds with one stone since he can avenge his loss and take away Andrade's bantamweight MMA world title with a massive victory.
Rewatch the first meeting between Fabricio Andrade and Kwon Won Il:
Kwon Won Il believes he has overtaken Fabricio Andrade
Kwon Won Il hasn't looked back since that setback against Fabricio Andrade, using the disappointment as fuel to get better.
The heavy-handed South Korean worked tirelessly behind closed doors and secured three straight TKO victories since.
Fabricio Andrade, on the contrary, had to sit out the entire 2024 after dealing with nagging injuries. As such, the challenger believes he made greater strides and is now the superior athlete.
'Pretty Boy' said during the ONE 170 press conference:
"Last fight, my mentality was not good, and then his striking was good. So I put in so much hard work and then [improved my] grappling and striking. Yeah, so now it's better than the last fight, and then I think the same - I am better than him."
ONE 170 will air live on Asian Primetime via watch.onefc.com.
