“We’re prepared to beat him in any way” - Mark Sangiao expecting a tough fight for Stephen Loman against Bibiano Fernandes

Stephan Loman (left), Mark Sangiao (center), Bibiano Fernandes (right)
Stephan Loman (left), Mark Sangiao (center), Bibiano Fernandes (right)

Filipino Stephen Loman faces the biggest test of his MMA career in a few short weeks, battling former ONE bantamweight world champion Bibiano Fernandes.

Fernandes has been a staple of Asian MMA for over a decade, signing with ONE Championship in 2012 and holding a belt in Japanese promotion Dream before that. Having recently lost his belt to John Lineker, he’ll try to re-insert himself back in the title picture by taking on No. 5 ranked Stephen Loman.

Loman represents the best of Team Lakay, a gym in Baguio City, Philippines, thats produced some of ONE’s top talent. The owner, Mark Sangiao, weighed in on Loman’s opponent ahead of the fight in an interview with ONE Championship:

“We don’t really know what his motivation is, especially after losing his world title to John Lineker. It’s either he’s coming in frustrated or motivated, and we’ll only see that come fight night. Either way, we’re prepared to beat him in any way possible."

Fernandes returned from a long layoff to defend the belt against Lineker, and the former world champion is now 42 years-old. It’s unclear what exactly his goals are for the remainder of his MMA career. Even past his glory years, he’s a dangerous opponent.

Stephen Loman has looked sharp in both of his appearances for ONE, knocking out Yusup Saadulaev in his debut last December. To follow up the strong debut, Loman then fought 48-fight Japanese veteran Shoko Sato in March. Loman cruised to a decision, and is now at the No. 5 ranking in the official ONE Championship rankings.


Eduard Folayang makes bold prediction for Stephen Loman vs. Bibiano Fernandes

Eduard Folayang, a forerunner and teammate of Stephen Loman at Team Lakay, also gave his thoughts on the matchup in an interview with ONE:

“We all know that Bibiano is primarily a ground fighter and that’s the area we’re looking at where he and Stephen will really get into an even matchup, so I think this will be a good fight for both of them. [However], I see this ending in a knockout. Third round, Bibiano will go to sleep.”

Fernandes is a Brazilian jiujitsu black belt, but those close to Loman don’t seem too concerned about him competing with the former champ on the ground. Stephen Loman and Team Lakay may be counting on Loman’s youth and power against Bibiano Fernandes’ age to produce the knockout in their fight.

Stephen Loman vs. Bibiano Fernandes goes down at ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18th in Singapore. The card is headlined by a champion vs. champion fight pitting lightweight world champion Christian Lee against welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov. The event streams in its entirety on Amazon Prime in US prime time.

Quick Links

Edited by Micah Curtis