“My life has really changed a lot” - Fabricio Andrade on his growing popularity after fight with John Lineker

The year 2022 was an enriching one for Brazil's Fabricio Andrade and something he is looking to build on moving forward.

Making his ONE Championship debut in July 2020 at ONE: No Surrender, the 25-year-old Andrade (8-2) has not lost in five completed fights to date in the promotion. In October of last year, Andrade was presented with a grand opportunity to take a shot at the ONE world bantamweight world title, then held by countryman John 'Hands of Stone' Lineker.

Lineker failed to make weight though and was stripped of the world title just before their match. The fight still pushed through, with Andrade being the only eligible fighter to win the belt in the event of a win.

But as fate would have it, the match wound up in a no-contest after Lineker was ruled unable to continue at the 2:44 mark of the third round after absorbing an accidental strike to the groin from Andrade.

Despite the abrupt and unfortunate ending to the world title fight, Fabricio Andrade did enough to impress and gain an added following. Andrade also views the Lineker fight as a testament to how far he has come in his mixed martial arts career and is excited for what lies ahead.

He recently told ONE Championship:

“It happened really fast and my life has really changed a lot and to see all this like coming to reality, all these stuff that I dreamed my whole life, you know, is a feeling that’s even harder to explain.”

Before taking on Lineker, Fabricio Andrade chalked up knockout wins over promising bantamweight contenders Jeremy Pacatiw and Kwon-Won Il, in that order, in 2022.

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Fabricio Andrade sacrifices family time to train for John Lineker rematch

For 2023, the topmost goal for the Brazilian Fabricio Andrade is to beat compatriot John Lineker in a rematch for the vacant ONE world bantamweight world championship.

Fabricio Andrade is so determined that he has made the tough decision of sacrificing some family time to concentrate on his training, recently traveling back to Brazil.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Andrade said:

“I actually didn’t have enough time to go home to see my family [in Fortaleza] so I went straight to Rio de Janeiro. I wanted to get some training there. There’s always a solid gym out there so I had some good training and just doing a lot of new stuff, getting more stuff introduced for my new camp.”

Andrade and Lineker first met for the vacant ONE world bantamweight world title in October last year, which ended in a no contest. Their rematch is set for February 10 at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video.