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Fabricio Andrade isn’t in a hurry to leave bantamweight just yet.
The reigning ONE bantamweight MMA world champion believes there’s still a lot to achieve in his current weight class, and he expressed no desire to either move up or down a division.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Andrade said there would be no point for him to move up to featherweight since his body just won’t allow it.
Fabricio Andrade said:
“You know, right now my weight is kind of like low, you know, I'm not getting very heavy, before I was constantly thinking about moving up a weight, but my weight kind of like got stuck now, so I don't think right now would be a smart move to go up.”
Andrade, though, tried to reach champ-champ status in his last outing.
The Brazilian star faced off against Jonathan Haggerty at ONE Fight Night 16 for the vacant ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title in November 2023.
Despite Andrade’s best efforts to push through injury, Haggerty was at another level during the Bangkok fight.
Haggerty eventually stopped Andrade in the second round and put the kickboxing strap beside his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title in his trophy cabinet.
Fabricio Andrade believes a matchup against Stephen Loman is inevitable
Fabricio Andrade may hold the ONE bantamweight MMA gold, but he’s also not shy when calling out potential challengers to his throne.
One such man Andrade expects to challenge him for the gold is Filipino standout Stephen Loman.
‘The Sniper’ was already tabbed as Andrade’s next challenger, but he dropped his previous match against former bantamweight MMA king John Lineker.
Nevertheless, Andrade believes he and Loman will share the Circle in the future.
Andrade told the South China Morning Post in the same interview:
“It's hard to beat Lineker so he got a hard fight, he lost a decision, he wasn't like, he got knocked out or anything, so I think he just needs to keep improving and go back and get a good win and could be a contender as well.”
Watch Andrade's entire interview below:
