“I would win” - Fabricio Andrade confident he can beat Merab Dvalishvili if they ever fought

Reigning ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade believes he has what it takes to defeat the UFC bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili.

The 28-year-old Brazilian striking sensation, who captured ONE Championship gold by stopping John Lineker in 2023 and recently defended his title with a spectacular 42-second destruction of Kwon Won Il at ONE 170 in January, praised Dvalishvili's remarkable run that has established the Georgian as arguably the best 135-pounder in the UFC.

But during his interview with Nick Atkin of the Bangkok Post, 'Wonder Boy' made clear that acknowledging greatness doesn't mean accepting defeat.

"Of course, now we've got a guy like Merab [Dvalishvili], you know, nobody's able to understand how to beat him, and he's probably the best bantamweight fighter to this day. Now I just need to keep working, keep doing good fights, finishing guys in a nice style. And I want to get my name out there too," the Fortaleza native told the combat sports correspondent.

"I have to believe in myself. I have to believe that I am the best bantamweight in the world. If one day I had the opportunity to fight him, to test myself against a guy like him, I have to say that I would win because I believe in myself. But to beat a guy like him, you need a very good strategy, you need to work very hard because right now he's the best to this day, to fight in this weight. He's defended his belt multiple times, four title defenses in a year, so he's very impressive."

Watch Fabricio Andrade's full interview with Nick Atkin below:

Dvalishvili has dominated the UFC bantamweight division with three title defenses in 2025 alone. 'The Machine' has defeated Sean O'Malley, Umar Nurmagomedov, Cory Sandhagen, and is preparing for a rematch with Petr Yan in December.

His relentless wrestling, suffocating pace, and cardio have left elite opponents searching for answers.

Yet Andrade, whose beautiful striking and sharp fight IQ have carried him to the top of ONE Championship's bantamweight division, believes his precision and evolving ground game could present problems the UFC champion hasn't seen before, provided he earns the opportunity to test his theory.

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Fabricio Andrade set for next world title defense at ONE Fight Night 38

In less than two weeks, Fabricio Andrade will step back onto the global stage of martial arts for his second title defense of the year.

'Wonder Boy's' matchup against No.4-ranked Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu serves as the main event of ONE Fight Night 38, which emanates live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, December 5.

The Mongolian challenger, who featured in Netflix's Physical: Asia, has been in fine form leading up to his first shot at 26 pounds of gold. The 36-year-old slugger has won six of his seven assignments in the promotion, four coming inside the distance.

Still, he'll have it all to do against Fabricio Andrade. The Brazilian has yet to taste defeat in the discipline in ONE Championship, with seven triumphs and a bout against John Lineker that was declared a no contest in October 2022.