Brazilian grappling stars Fabricio Andrey and Joao Mendes will now be competing against each other at ONE Fight Night 40 on February 13th, 2026. The two men will be meeting in a featherweight matchup, as Andrey attempts to take another step towards winning a ONE Championship world title. There’s no champion in that division yet, nor has there ever been, and Andrey has already set himself apart from the rest of the field. He stands out as the most obvious choice for one half of the inaugural featherweight title-fight, but Mendes will be looking to take that status from him with a win here.
Andrey beat Ashley Williams in his ONE debut earlier this year and that decision win put him off to a good start, but he’s already advanced even further since then. He had his second match against Eduardo Granzotto at ONE Fight Night 36 and after another decision win, he’s now 2-0. With both those wins coming against top contenders, another win here over Mendes will make Andrey’s case for a title-shot virtually undeniable. Andrey is already one of the most popular competitors in the sport too; known for his elite skills in every area and his amazing ability to reliably beat significantly bigger opponents.
Mendes on the other hand will be making his ONE debut in this match, but a win over Andrey will give him much of the momentum that Andrey had right now. Mendes also has history with him, as the pair met in the quarter-final of the featherweight division at the IBJJF Pan Championship 2021. Andrey won that match by submission but it was in the gi and over 4 years ago, so a no gi match between them today should look very different. Mendes is also coming into this match off the biggest achievement of his career so far, as he won the featherweight division at the IBJJF World Championship earlier this year.
ONE Championship announced the news that Fabricio Andrey and Joao Mendes were facing each other at ONE Fight Night 40 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
