Brazil’s Bibiano Fernandes is still ONE Bantamweight World Champion, submits Kevin Belingon at ‘ONE: Century 世紀’ in Tokyo, Japan

Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes, 39, of Brazil is still the reigning champion of the bantamweight division of ONE Championship. He successfully defended his title at “ONE: Century 世紀” in Tokyo, Japan.

“ONE: Century 世紀” was the second ONE Championship event held in Japan and it marked the martial arts organization’s 100th live event. The combat sports event had two parts with 11 bouts each.

Featuring mixed martial arts, Muay Thai and kickboxing matches, “ONE: Century 世紀” took place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on October 12, 2019. In the third co-main event of the second part, Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, 31, of the Philippines challenged Fernandes.

It was the fourth time Fernandes and Belingon battled it out in the ONE Championship cage. Kemp Cheng served as the referee.

After a brief exchange on the feet, Fernandes immediately shot in for a successful takedown, landing in side control. The Brazilian defending champion controlled Belingon with his top game for the majority of the first round.

The second round saw Belingon come out firing but Fernandes was relentless in his pursuit of the takedown. The Filipino challenger left the Brazilian defending champion an opening and the latter swiftly capitalized to take his back.

Cheng put a stop to the title bout after 2 minutes and 16 seconds in the second round. Fernandes submitted Belingon via rear-naked choke.

Winning at “ONE: Century 世紀” improved the professional MMA record of Fernandes to 24 wins and 4 losses. On the other hand, Belingon now has 20 wins and 7 losses.

Fernandes is training out of AMC Pankration. Belingon trains at Team Lakay.

Including Brazil and the Philippines, 18 countries were represented in the two parts of “ONE: Century 世紀.” The others were Algeria, Belarus, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the United States.

Fernandes was one of the four fighters who represented Brazil while Belingon was one of the five representatives of the Philippines. Watch the highlights of “ONE: Century 世紀” part 2 here: