Bibiano Fernandes Keeps Bantamweight Title at ONE Championship 37

 

Story by Bruno De Paiva

Brazilian fighter Bibiano Fernandes has continued to strengthen his reputation as one of the best bantamweight fighters outside of the UFC after he successfully defended his ONE Championship belt in China on Saturday night.

Fernandes made quick and easy work of fellow ONE bantamweight veteran Kevin Belingon, who tapped out to a kimura at 4:04 in the first round. The champion got a takedown in the opening seconds of the bout and dominated with his grappling before capitalizing on a mistake by his Filipino opponent.

The victory now puts Fernandes on an unbeaten run of 11 fights, with six of those coming in the ONE Championship cage. Belingon, on the other hand, now has three losses in his past five fights.

Muin Gafurov also emerged victorious against former title challenger Toni Tauru in their main card matchup, after his relentless ground and pound caused referee Olivier Coste to step in at 1:17 of the third round.

At just 19 years of age, Gafurov now has a perfect record of 10-0, and has asserted himself as one of the top young prospects in MMA today.

Local fighter Ma Hao Bin went from professional MMA debutant to tournament winner as he took out the Changsha Bantamweight Tournament at the event. Ma submitted Wa Ting Shen by guillotine choke in just 27 seconds on the undercard before he landed the same submission on Bu Huo You Jia in the Main Event after just 1:08 in round one.

 

COMPLETE RESULTS

Ma Hao Bin def. Bu Huo You Jia via Submission (guillotine choke) 1:08 R1
Bibiano Fernandes def. Kevin Belingon via Submission (kimura) 4:04 R1
Li Kai Wen def. Yang Sen via Decision (Unanimous)
Muin Gafurov def. Toni Tauru via TKO (punches) 1:17 R3
Riku Shibuya def. Roy Doliguez via Decision (Unanimous)
Ming Yen Sung def. Sunoto via Submission (guillotine choke) 0:31 R1
Ze Wu def. Xhang You Liang via KO (soccer kicks) 4:17 R1
Tang Da Pan def. Zhou Biao via KO (slam) 0:59 R1
Ma Hao Bin def. Wu Ting Shen via Submission (guillotine choke) 0:27 R1
Bu Huo You Xia def. Cai Chang Bo via Submission (bulldog choke) 2:26 R1