Stephen Loman blasts Fabricio Andrade for taking kickboxing fight instead of defending MMA belt

No. 2 ranked bantamweight contender Stephen Loman was none-too-happy to hear about Fabricio Andrade’s champion vs. champion showdown with Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night 15.

On October 6, Andrade, the reigning bantamweight world champion, will make his long-awaited return to the Circle, but it won’t be to defend his MMA world title. Instead, ‘Wonder Boy’ will square off with bantamweight Muay Thai titleholder Jonathan Haggerty to crown a new kickboxing champ.

While fans were understandably excited to see two of the best strikers in the sport matched up for a superfight, there were some who were admittedly frustrated by the decision. Specifically, Stephen Loman who, by all accounts, was the first in line to challenge Fabricio Andrade for the bantamweight crown.

“I think as a champion, he should’ve defended his belt first before jumping into another sport,” Loman told The MMA Superfan in a recent interview. “I think he gets a pass because he’s a champion and he can get what he likes, like fight in another sport.”

Andrade captured the bantamweight world title with a brilliant performance against former champion John ‘Hands of Stone’ Lineker in February. More than six months later, the world title remains undefended despite Loman’s string of wins in the division, capped off by a decisive decision victory over Bibiano Fernandes at ONE on Prime Video 4 last year.

It’s safe to assume that Loman’s time to compete for ONE Championship gold will come, but ‘The Sniper’ will have to wait just a tad longer before get has the opportunity to dethrone the current bantamweight king.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 15 live and for free in U.S. primetime on October 6.