Bibiano Fernandes looking to regain ONE gold at 42 years old

Bibiano Fernandes is already one of the greatest fighters in ONE Championship history, yet the 42-year-old isn’t done in his illustrious career.

The legendary Brazilian had two reigns with the ONE bantamweight world title from 2013 to 2018 and then from 2019 to 2022. His second time with the title, however, ended in earlier this year when he lost to John Lineker in March.

In an interview with South China Morning Post’s Tom Taylor, Fernandes said that losing the belt to Lineker was certainly a difficult time. Nevertheless, his motivation didn’t waver.

‘The Flash’ pointed out how he kept himself motivated despite the loss to Lineker, saying:

“Everything’s about motivation, everything in life is about motivation, if I have motivation I’ll still compete forever. But if I’m not motivated why will I go compete? Everything in life is about motivation.”

He added:

“Some people wake up every day, do the same thing for 30, 40 years because they motivate themselves. They want something, they have a goal but the goal I choose, is again the same what you said, ONE Championship is not my belt it’s ONE Championship belt and I gave it back to them.”

Fernandes is one of the most successful champions in ONE Championship history, with both of his two reigns eclipsing 1,000 days. His first one lasted 1,848 days from 2013 to 2018, while his second went on for 1,076 days from 2019 to 2022.

“Everything’s about motivation, if the motivation is there I can keep it forever, but if my motivation is not there I’ll say ‘thanks so much I’m good.’ But my motivation is still here… I wait and I’ll see if I can fight a couple of years more but again life is about motivation.”

Catch the full interview below:

Bibiano Fernandes continues to move forward

Holding on to the ONE bantamweight world championship seemed like a routine for Bibiano Fernandes and the moment it was taken from him seemed all too different.

Fernandes admitted that he was at a low point after his loss to Lineker but his coach just used the right words to lift the former champion.

“I was sad, I mean i was very low like, ‘F*** man I lost the belt’ and my coach came for me and he told me, ‘Bibiano, do you know why man? You can choose to stay there’ look what he said. He said, ‘You can choose to stay there or continue to move forward’ and I tried to move forward,” said Fernandes.

He added:

“Opportunities came for me, my friends came for me, people came for me, and said, ‘Man you’re a true champion, don’t let one loss stop you. You did many things, you won many times, you competed for three years and you went there did a great job there.’”

We'll see if Bibiano Fernandes can add to his already-impressive career with a third reign on the bantamweight throne.