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Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao recently expressed his thoughts on the current career trajectory of former ONE bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes. 'The Flash' is slated to face one of Sangiao's rising star fighters, Stephen 'The Sniper' Loman, in what will surely be a treat to fight fans.
The bout will take place on the main card of ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs. Lee. Fernandes was last seen in action at ONE: Lights Out back in March when he lost his world title to John Lineker in devastating KO fashion.
Speaking to The MMA Super-fan on YouTube, Coach Mark Sangiao spoke about the former world champion's abilities inside the circle.
Despite the recent KO loss and the fact that he's already 42, Sangiao still believes Bibiano Fernades can be dangerous:
“Still this is MMA, we saw Bibiano lose in his last fight but still showed good heart and good skill. We’re expecting his striking.”
Fernandes indeed showed tremendous heart in the face of extreme adversity against Lineker. Despite being hurt, the Brazilian grappling specialist managed to give 'Hands of Stone' some problems and even knock him down.
As for Loman, 'The Sniper' has had back-to-back wins in his ONE Championship career so far, knocking out former world title challenger Yusup Saadulaev and soundly beating Shoko Sato.
Watch the full interview here:
Bibiano Fernandes has had an epic rivalry with Stephen Loman's teammate, Kevin Belingon
Coach Mark Sangiao and Stephen Loman won't be coming in blind leading up to the fight with Bibiano Fernandes. One of Team Lakay's veteran fighters, former ONE bantamweight king Kevin 'The Silencer' Belingon, had an epic rivalry with Fernandes.
The Filipino striker was the only one to solve the puzzle that the dominant then-world champion's grappling assault presented. Together, the two legendary warriors put on a rivalry for the ages, facing each other an unprecedented four times - while exchanging world titles as well.
The first two fights in the series were split 1-1, with the third encounter ending in much controversy. In the rubber match, Fernandes won via disqualification after Belingon accidentally hit him with illegal elbows to the back of the head. Though the foul was undoubtedly accidental, the ending stirred some tension between the two.
In their fourth dance, Bibiano Fernandes choked Belingon out in the second round, putting a definitive end to one of the greatest rivalries in ONE Championship history.
Loman will surely have Belingon in his corner and will be using the extensive knowledge he's had facing Bibiano Fernandes four times.
