Fabricio Andrade hoped that demolishing Jeremy Pacatiw in just 97 seconds at ONE Championship, his fourth straight victory inside the circular cage, would have been enough to earn him a shot at bantamweight king John Lineker. He saw his name slide in the rankings of the company and the champion ignored him.
” I’ve challenged Lineker previously,” Andrade stated on the latest episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Franka . He didn’t answer when I challenged him but he did respond to [Kwon Won Il] when I called him out. He’ll be defeated by me .”
.
Andrade will meet Won Il in Friday’s ONE Championship 158 Singapore to try and win gold in Asia.
” If he wants to fight the Korean, then he will have to beat me,” Andrade stated about “Hands of Stone”. Lineker. “I believe he’s trying to get fights that make more sense for him style-wise and avoiding a fight with me.”
Andrade is a fighter out of Tiger Muay Thai, Thailand. He has also trained with some of the most prominent UFC trainers over the years like Petr Yan or Alexander Volkanovski. This, according to “Wonder Boy”, showed that his skill set is sufficient to make him a top contender in the sport.
“I’ve been asking to fight Lineker for more than two years [because] he’s the biggest name in the promotion, especially in this division,” Andrade said. He has a long history, and many fans. If he loses, my name is .”
Lineker clinched the ONE title with a second-round knockout victory over Bibiano Fernandes in March, going 4-0 in his post-UFC career. Andrade currently ranks below Fernandes Kwon, Stephan Loman and Kwon.
” I was sad that the ranking was updated because I had beat the [Shoko Sato] back when he was No. 2, back in my second fight at ONE, and [Sato] already beat the guy I’m fighting now,” Andrade said. “After this fight, I don’t think there’s any other fight that makes sense other than me and Lineker.”
Andrade must get past Won Il first, though, and predicts a quick night in the office.
“I think [it ends] in the first round. He said, “Knockout!” He said, “He is a skilled fighter who has a strong fighting background. However, he doesn’t have a lot of intelligence when he fights. Even though he’s bigger than me, he always moves forward, and that will give me more advantage in this fight. I also believe I hit harder than him.”
