Fabricio Andrade confident that his knockout power will translate to kickboxing: “It’s just natural”

ONE bantamweight mixed martial arts world champion Fabricio Andrade is confident that his vaunted knockout power will still be present when he makes his way back to kickboxing for his next fight.

‘Wonder Boy’ will try to add the vacant bantamweight kickboxing world title when he returns to action at ONE Fight Night 16 on Prime Video on November 3 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. He will face off against the division’s Muay Thai world titleholder, Jonathan Haggerty, in a champion-versus-champion clash.

Speaking to The MMA Superfan in an interview, Fabricio Andrade shared that he is not too concerned of losing his KO power when he goes back to kickboxing. That's because it's something that has always been with him and he just has to continue channeling it when he competes.

He said:

“I don't really know [how I developed my power] because I think it's just natural. It’s funny because I always get like feedbacks from training partners that say that it’s powerful, too. And I always say it's because I used to train with people that was heavier than me. And even those guys used to say that I have like more power than I should have for my weight.”

Watch the interview below:

Fabricio Andrade is gunning for a second straight world title at ONE Fight Night 16. He is fresh from his conquest of the vacant bantamweight MMA gold back in February, when he stopped former divisional king John Lineker by technical knockout (corner stoppage) in the fourth round.

Kickboxing is not necessarily new to the HIIT Studio/Marrok Force standout as he has extensive experience in it, having competed in a lot of matches both in his native land of Brazil and abroad prior to joining ONE Championship in 2020. It is something that he will be banking on in his next fight.

Jonathan Haggerty, meanwhile, is out to get a third ONE world title as he once held the flyweight Muay Thai championship belt.

Like Fabricio Andrade, ‘The General’ is coming off a title victory, defeating longtime champion Nong-O Hama of Thailand for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai strap. He did it by shock and awe, knocking out Nong-O in the opening round with a barrage of strikes.

ONE Fight Night 16 will air live in US primetime, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.