Fabricio Andrade grateful for a busy year and a half leading to a world title win

Fabricio Andrade is ONE Championship's newest bantamweight world champion. He's grateful for the busy last 18 months that led to his most recent title fight.

'Wonder Boy' competed three times in 2022, scoring opening-round TKOs over Jeremy Pacatiw and Kwon Won Il and nearly attaining a world title against John Lineker.

The 25-year-old phenom took to Instagram to reflect after his title-winning performance at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video. He posted:

"5 fights in 1 year and three months 2 fights being for the world title, everything happening really fast and I can just be grateful for everything now it’s time to rest and soon I will be back better and stronger than ever, thank you everyone for the messages and support 🦾🇧🇷❤️ #longlivetheking #wonderboy"

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Fabricio Andrade "gave up soccer" to pursue a career in combat sports

The newly crowned bantamweight champ wasn't always planning on having a professional combat sports career. At first, he dreamed of playing pro soccer, but he gave it up to pursue fighting full time.

He told ONE:

"I gave up soccer the next day and started to dedicate myself only to fighting. From that day, I felt something different, I knew this was what I had to do. I started to get good at it, everyone praised me, and it motivated me every day."

Andrade's fanbase is growing with every appearance inside the circle. He already owns finishes over Mark Abelardo, Kaiwen Li, Pacatiw, Kwon, and most recently, John Lineker.

The Brazilian superstar is off to a wildly successful start to his MMA career, and he now wears ONE Championship's bantamweight crown. All of the contenders in the division will now have their eyes on his title.

Filipino top-five contender Stephen Loman is viewed as the first challenger to Andrade's throne after 'The Sniper' defeated former long-time champ Bibiano Fernandes.

Loman is a perfect 3-0 inside the circle with victories over Yusup Saadulaev, Shoko Sato, and the aforementioned Fernandes. Fabricio Andrade has expressed interest in booking a matchup with Loman as well.

Be sure to check back with Sportskeeda MMA for an announcement pertaining to Fabricio Andrade's next fight, as he'll look to make his first bantamweight world title defense.

Check out Fabricio Andrade's title-winning performance over John Lineker below: