Bibiano Fernandes on how he's feeling since losing his belt to John Lineker

Bibiano Fernandes lost the ONE bantamweight world title to John Lineker at ONE: Lights Out, but he’s doing just fine now.

In an interview with SCMP MMA, ‘The Flash’ said that it wasn’t easy to accept reality at first, but he eventually had to choose to move forward.

Bibiano Fernandes said:

"For me, I was hurt the second day. I was not happy, I was sad. I was very low. Like, man, I lost the belt. And my coach came to me and said, ‘Bibiano, you know what man, you can choose to stay there or choose to move forward.’ And I choose to move forward. When you move forward, the door will open back for [you],” he said. “People come [to] me and say, ‘Man, you’re a true champion, don’t let one loss stop you. You did many things, you won many times, you don’t compete for three years [and] you go there, you did a great job with that.’ It does motivate me a bit.”

Fernandes was arguably the most dominant king of a division in the promotion’s history, racking up eight defenses during two reigns. His loss to Lineker was his first stoppage defeat in ONE Championship.

“I wish I can fight John Lineker two years ago. But it was a good fight, I gave everything I had that day and I dropped him - the first time somebody dropped John Lineker. I did that, you know, but he caught me. [It was] back and forth and he hit me here and… but you know what man, it’s the past, and I move forward.”

Watch the full interview here:

Bibiano Fernandes willing to wait for his chance at the world title

Bibiano Fernandes remains the No.1-ranked contender in the division, but No.4-ranked Fabricio Andrade is hot on his tail.

The Marrok Force product defeated No.2-ranked Kwon Won Il at ONE 158 and will surely make another jump once the rankings are updated. Andrade’s win against Kwon was his third straight first-round TKO finish, which sparked speculation that he could be in line for a world title shot against John Lineker.

While Fernandes believes that he still deserves a rematch with Lineker, he is taking a patient approach for his next match.

“I deserve the fight for the belt, but I wait for [them] to come back [to me]. I don’t want to say, ‘Hey, I want the belt right away.’ I’m waiting for ONE Championship, [to] see what’s next, what [they] want from me,” he said.