On March 31, 2019, Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes, 39, of Brazil challenged reigning ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, 39, of the Philippines at “ONE: A New Era” at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. It was the first of the three co-main events of the evening.
It was the first title defense of Belingon, who is fighting out of Team Lakay in Baguio City, Philippines. It was a trilogy bout between him and Fernandes, who is training out of AMC Pankration.
“ONE: A New Era” featured 11 MMA bouts and four ONE Super Series matches, which included two kickboxing contests and two Muay Thai contests. It was the first ever ONE Championship event to take place in Japan.
The ONE Bantamweight World Championship bout between Belingon and Fernandes was the 12th bout of the evening and Olivier Coste served as the referee.
Coste put a stop to the contest in the second round. Belingon was disqualified due to illegal elbow strikes.
Fernandes was announced as the new ONE Bantamweight World Champion but he refused to celebrate and have his hand raised by Coste. The Brazilian fighter quickly left the cage and the second co-main event of the evening immediately followed.
Including the Philippines and Brazil, 19 countries were represented at “ONE: A New Era,” which is the first ever ONE Championship event to take place in Japan. The other countries represented were Australia, China, Cyprus, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United States.
Belingon was one of the three fighters from the Philippines on the “ONE: A New Era.” Fernandes solely represented Brazil.
During the post-fight press conference for “ONE: A New Era,” ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong confirmed that based on technicalities, Fernandes is the new ONE Bantamweight World Champion. However, the Brazilian fighter refused to accept the belt so there will be an automatic rematch between him and Belingon, Chatri said.
Watch all the “ONE: A New Era” bouts here:
CONAN Daily 