ONE Championship's Fabricio Andrade admits he was incredibly frustrated following his first encounter with John Lineker, and he has no intention of allowing that to happen a second time around.
This past October, the two Brazilian sluggers faced off in Malaysia in a matchup that was heavy on excitement. However, when Andrade delivered an inadvertent low blow in the third round, Lineker declared he was unable to continue, and that matchup was ruled a no contest.
At the time, Andrade was visibly dejected with the ruling.
"I took it as a loss, you know?" Andrade told MMA Underground. "I felt like I lost the fight because at the end of the fight, I didn't have the belt. I didn't have the bonus. I didn't have any of those things. I felt like I lost the fight, so I was really just like, really upset with everything."
Four months later, "Wonder Boy" gets a second crack at ONE's bantamweight title, headlining this weekend's "ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II" from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The event streams live in North American on Friday night on Amazon Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET.
Despite his frustration with their initial encounter, Andrade said he's been able to remove any lingering anger from his preparation.
"I had to take a step back and really let my emotions go and see how I felt about everything, and it is what it is," Andrade said. "You know, we cannot change the past, but there's all that is in front of me. Now I get a chance to do it over again and do it even better than the first time, and now I'm just super excited to do this rematch against him again."
The two did get to spend more than 12 minutes together in the cage in their first meeting, so both Andrade (8-2) and Lineker (35-9) will have opportunities to make adjustments based on that experience. Andrade believes he knows exactly what to change in the second encounter.
"The only thing that surprised me is that he was really patient and he respected me a lot," Andrade said. "He was not coming forward. I was expecting him to come a little bit more forward and try to throw more hands, but I think he respects me a lot. He didn't want to get caught, so I thought he used his patience well, and I felt like I ended up rushing a little bit because he was too patient, so I started to rush because I wanted to finish the fight. That's one of the things that I want to correct coming for this rematch."
At just 25, Andrade has all the makings of a superstar for ONE Championship. He's been a perfect 5-0 under the promotion's banner, including three knockouts and one submission. A win over a proven commodity like Lineker would not only earn him the ONE bantamweight title but could do wonders for his reputation on the global scene.
Andrade realizes all that's at stake and plans on delivering a memorable performance.
"I'm happy with my performance in the first fight, but I think because I rushed a little bit, I gave him an opportunity to take the fight to the ground, and I don't believe he's a good wrestler, so I was not happy when I got taken down," Andrade said. "So coming for this fight, he's not going to put me down. I want to keep the fight for the whole time standing up and just be patient, take my time, because I'm going to knock him out. If it's in the first round or if it's in the fifth round, I'm going to be ready to knock him out."
