“The level is not too different” - Fabricio Andrade says ONE Championship fighters are right up there with the UFC

The evidence speaks louder than promotional rhetoric, and Brazilian fighter Fabricio Andrade points to concrete results when asked about competitive parity.

The 28-year-old reigning ONE Championship bantamweight MMA world champion addressed the perpetual cross-promotional comparison during his interview with Nick Atkin of the Bangkok Post.

Rather than offering empty claims, the Brazilian megastar let fight outcomes tell the story about where the world's elite mixed martial artists actually compete.

"We got good champions. If you see a guy like Anatoly, who was a three-division world champion, and other names, too, like Demetrious Johnson, he came here, he lost to Adriano Moraes. So it definitely [tells you something]," he told Nick Atkin, before pointing out to another star who went in the opposite direction after suffering back-to-back defeats to Malykhin.

"You see, Reinier de Ridder, he's a former two-division champion, he's now close to fighting for the title there. So those guys show that the level is not too different. A lot of champions here could be champions there," Fabricio Andrade continued.

The Tiger Muay Thai representative's views about 'Mighty Mouse' resonate most powerfully, though.

Widely regarded as the greatest flyweight in MMA history, 'Mighty Mouse' arrived in ONE Championship as the dominant UFC flyweight champion with 11 consecutive title defenses.

His knockout loss to Adriano Moraes at ONE on TNT 1 in April 2021 sent shockwaves through the combat sports world and more than proved that there are world championship-caliber fighters competing outside the octagon.

Check out Fabricio Andrade's full interview with Nick Atkin here:

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Fabricio Andrade's next fight set for ONE's final American primetime fight card of 2025

In the main event of ONE Fight Night 38, which emanates live from the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Fabricio Andrade returns to defend his gold.

That evening on Friday, Dec. 5, the reigning ONE bantamweight MMA world champion squares off against Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu in his second title defense of 2025.

'Wonder Boy' wrapped up his last fight in 42 seconds in his rematch against 'Pretty Boy' Kwon Won Il at ONE 170 earlier this year, and if he brings the same finishing instincts into this fight, the Brazilian striking specialist could be on his way to another statement triumph inside the Thai capital.

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch all the action from ONE Fight Night 38, live in U.S. primetime, for free.