ONE Championship: Fabricio Andrade tells Jonathan Haggerty ‘we’re not friends’, warns ‘this is my division’
- ‘What you expect? Me to shake your hand? Nothing fake here,’ bantamweight MMA king tells Muay Thai champ Haggerty
- Andrade also targets kickboxing king Petchtanong in bold social media call-out, with Stephen Loman title defence still on his radar
Fabricio Andrade has further stoked the flames of a potential showdown with Jonathan Haggerty in ONE Championship.
The 26-year-old Briton acknowledged a fight with the Brazilian after he claimed the bantamweight Muay Thai belt with a stunning first-round knockout win over long-reigning champion Nong-O Hama in the main event of ONE Fight Night 9 last Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand.
“You see me in the back room and now you want to say it on social media?” Haggerty told the Post after his win, addressing Andrade’s initial call-out. “If you want it, you can have it.”
Bantamweight MMA king Andrade responded to that remark from Haggerty on Instagram, doubling-down on his call-out of the Muay Thai champion.
“What do you expect?” Andrade wrote. “Me to shake your hand and pretend we are friends? No fake s*** here.
“You said you wanna fight me before, now is the time.”
ONE: Superbon tells Nong-O ‘let’s claim our titles back together’
Still, Andrade is confident he can beat any bantamweight fighter in ONE Championship whatever the sport – including kickboxing king Petchtanong Petchfergus.
On Monday he took to Instagram again to welcome fights with the two other champs in his weight class, as well as top bantamweight MMA contender Stephen Loman, who is expected to provide his next challenge.
“This is my division,” he wrote in his post, which included photos of all three fighters. “I am the only one who can do MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai at the same time. Let’s see who the fans want to see getting knocked out next.”
Andrade’s confidence is understandable. “Wonder Boy” (9-2) won the bantamweight MMA belt in February, when he battered his fellow Brazilian John Lineker to a corner stoppage between the fourth and fifth rounds.
That brought him to a perfect 5-0 as a mixed martial artist in ONE.
Petchtanong exchanged pleasantries with the Andrade on Instagram after his call-out, but the Thai was more forthright with Haggerty.
“You take belt from my brother, I want to see you soon,” he told “The General” on social media. Haggerty responded: “I’ll take yours too.”
