His fight against “Hands of Stone” in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 22 ended in a no contest rule after he landed an accidental low blow that left Lineker unable to continue. Before the stoppage, however, Andrade appeared to be on the verge of an emphatic victory after his heavy shots left his opponent battered and bruised.

Being left without the win and the coveted gold belt was devastating for “Wonder Boy,” who believes he had done everything right.

“It was very frustrating because I had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. I was prepared and I already saw myself as a champion. I trained a lot, worked a lot and sacrificed a lot to get in my best shape,” Andrade said.

“I made weight, I did everything right. I was winning the fight, almost knocking him out and the fight ended like that. From a near-knockout to a no contest, it was very frustrating. I was very sad with the result of the fight.”

Read also: Jonathan Haggerty’s journey to the bantamweight muay Thai divisionBut a glimmer of hope shone through for the Brazilian after ONE Championship released their updated rankings.

Andrade jumped ahead of both Bibiano Fernandes and Lineker thanks to his dominant performance.

The ONE bantamweight world title still remains vacant, though, as Linker was stripped of it for failing to make weight ahead of his showdown with “Wonder Boy." However, Andrade's new ranking all but guarantees him the first shot at it whenever ONE decides it’s up for grabs next.

In the meantime, don’t miss ONE Fight Night 4: Abbasov vs. Lee on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Tickets can be purchased at https://ticketmaster.sg/activity/detail/22_onenovsg.

This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship.

Popular

The fragile promise of pluralism, religious freedom in Southeast Asia

Furniture exporters decry new quarantine rule

BRICS shows internal rifts as ministers fall short of joint statement