After some time away from competition, Fabricio Andrade is finally set to return in January 2025 when his ONE bantamweight MMA world championship will be on the line.
'Wonder Boy' is known for ending fights quickly, but with how long he's been away from competition, he's not mad at the idea of this one going a little deeper into the rounds.
At ONE 170, in one of three stacked title fights, Fabricio Andrade will face the top contender in the division in a rematch.
The last time that he collided with Kwon Won Il was back in June 2022 when the fight only lasted just over a minute. Andrade has accumulated high-level experience at just 27 years old, but getting some more time in the ring wouldn't be the worst thing for him.
In a recent exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Andrade said that athough he's usually focused on putting his opponents away as quickly as possible, things are a bit different this time around:
"I wouldn't be upset if this fight goes a little longer. I'm not trying to focus on knocking him out in the first or the second round."
Fabricio Andrade is still going to be incredibly dangerous
Just because Fabricio Andrade isn't actively searching for the finish from the first bell this time around, doesn't mean that he won't find it without trying.
For a lot of elite strikers and finishers, they end up stopping their opponents when they don't actively search for it.
Andrade may be slightly more reserved this time around, but he's still an incredibly dangerous mixed martial artist with great speed, power, timing and diversity.
Kwon Won Il can't afford to buy into Andrade's words about letting things go a bit further, he needs to be switched on from the opening bell to the last one.