For the third time, Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes, 38, of Brazil and Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, 31, of the Philippines are competing for the bantamweight title inside the ONE Championship cage. This time, the Brazilian contender is the challenger and the Filipino fighter is the defending champion.
The trilogy fight between Fernandes and Belingon is one of the three co-main events of “ONE: A New Era,” which are all title bouts. They had their official face-off during the kick-off press conference on March 28, 2019 at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo, Japan.
“Kevin is a great champion,” Fernandes said during the press conference. “He has earned everything he has now, and I’m happy for him but I really truly believe I won the first fight.”
“In this third fight, I’m going to take the belt back,” the Brazilian fighter continued. “I’m going to prove to everyone that I’m still the best in the world and start a new reign as World Champion.”
On October 18, 2013, Fernandes became the second ONE Bantamweight World Championship titleholder by dethroning Soo Chul Kim, 27, of South Korea at “ONE: Total Domination” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The Brazilian fighter reigned for five years, successfully defending the title seven times.
Belingon was the fourth fighter to challenge Fernandes. The Brazilian defending champion submitted his Filipino challenger during their first encounter at “ONE: Dynasty of Champions” at the Changsa Stadium in Changsa, China on January 23, 2016.
On November 9, 2018, Belingon challenged Fernandes again at “ONE: Heart of the Lion” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The Filipino fighter training out of Team Lakay in Baguio City, Philippines won via split decision.
Fernandes is the only representative of Brazil at “ONE: A New Era” while Belingon is one of the three representatives of the Philippines. Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, 35, of Japan will challenge reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, of the Philippines in a rematch in the main event.
Meanwhile, here is a clip featuring Fernandes and his submissions inside the ONE Championship cage:
For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.
CONAN Daily 