Referee Olivier Coste Fabricio (center) declares Fabricio Andrade (right) the winner of his mixed martial arts bout against Kwon Won II at ONE 158 on June 3 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Andrade won by knockout and goes on to face John Lineker for the bantamweight crown.
F
abricio Andrade put on a spectacular show in his bout against Kwon Won Il at ONE Championship 158 on Friday, June 3, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The 24-year-old Brazilian upstart needed little more than a minute to finish his South Korean foe, after which he wasted no time in calling out bantamweight king John Lineker.
Andrade, who entered the match ranked fourth, made a serious claim for a World Title shot by flooring second-ranked Kwon with a devastating kick to the liver just 62 seconds into their showdown.
The South Korean had defeated his three previous opponents before facing “Wonder Boy”, but the Brazilian made short work of him by staying light on his feet and picking his moment to strike.
Following his emphatic victory, Andrade said the bout had gone exactly the way he had planned, right down to his rival’s reaction.
“It was really good, you know. Actually, when I was warming up, I started to do some [kicks],” said Andrade, demonstrating.
“Like this morning, I had some training and then I started to kick, and then my kick was really fast.
“And then I told myself, 'I don't think he'll be able to see this kick coming to the ribs. No, he won't be able to defend.' And that's exactly what happened. And I just did the first one in the fight and it [landed] right on his hips, and he didn't defend it. And then I said, 'Yeah, I'm going to finish this guy for sure.'”
Read also: Tawanchai knocks out Larsen as Silva exacts revenge on Mattheis at ONE 158
The Brazilian mixed martial artist earned a US$50,000 bonus for his performance, and he immediately took to the mic to make it known that he was coming for John “Hands of Stone” Lineker and his bantamweight belt.
“I want John Lineker. I want the title. I want that gold, man. I deserve that gold. I have worked so hard for that. I know I can finish him. I deserve that gold, you know,” Andrade said.
“I want to finish John Lineker. I say after I finish John Lineker, I'm going to give him a chance because I'm here to fight, and then I want to fight all the best contenders. So, after I win the belt, Stephen Loman can come and try to get it from me.”
Watch ONE 159 on July 22 on the ONE Super App and subscribe to ONE Championship on YouTube!
This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship.
