Fabricio Andrade needed to wait a little bit before his shot at history, but that added time has only made the fire burn brighter than ever in his heart. On Friday, November 3, “Wonder Boy” will be in the main event of ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs Andrade opposite Muay Thai king Jonathan Haggerty to battle it out for the vacant ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Their battle for two-sport supremacy was originally scheduled to be part of ONE Fight Night 15 in September but was moved to a later date in order to headline the next event. While it threw a wrench in their preparations, Andrade says he welcomes the spotlight that the delay brings to their fight.

Fabricio Andrade was happy about the status change of the fight

“Of course, the date change was a little uncomfortable, because I had already done all my planning to fight on October 7th,” he told ONE in an interview. “But I agree that this is a fight that deserves to be the main event of a ONE card. So, I understood and received the news in the best possible way.”

Andrade will be venturing into his first kickboxing match in ONE, having showcased his skills in seven MMA bouts since his arrival in 2020. However, he does have an impressive 40-3 kickboxing record under his belt, which bodes well for his chances as he vies for the most prestigious prize in martial arts today. The Brazilian fighter believes the extended preparation time changes nothing for him, but could help “The General” get better prepared at making weight.

Fabricio Andrade had trained thoroughly during the extra month to upgrade his kickboxing

“I believe it won’t change anything. I had been training to fight for a long time. First I would fight in August, then it changed to October and now it has been decided that the fight will take place in November. So, I was already prepared,” he said.  

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“But of course, an extra month of training is a lot of time and I can add a few more things to my game. I believe for him too. Especially because he has difficulty making the weight in the division, so I believe this postponement will be good for him too.” 

ONE Fight Night 16 airs live on Prime Video on Friday, November 3. The action begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and is free for all Prime Video subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.

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