ONE Championship: Bibiano Fernandes pricing himself out of John Lineker fight, suggests Chatri Sityodtong

‘If you’re not putting up viewership numbers you can’t command big dollars,’ ONE’s chairman and CEO says

Chatri says bantamweight champ ‘one of the greatest in history, but for some reason he doesn’t have a lot of fans’

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ONE bantamweight MMA champion Bibiano Fernandes. Photos: ONE Championship

Published: 5:28pm, 14 Sep 2021Updated: 5:43pm, 15 Sep 2021

Bibiano Fernandes’ financial demands are holding up the ONE Championship bantamweight champ’s return to action, according to Chatri Sityodtong.

ONE’s chairman and CEO said he was scheduled for talks last week with the disgruntled 41-year-old Brazilian (24-4), who has not fought in nearly two years after settling his rivalry with Kevin Belingon in Tokyo.

Former UFC star John Lineker has since carved himself out as the clear No 1 contender for his compatriot’s belt, with three wins since joining the Asian promotion.

“I do think that fight is gonna happen,” Chatri told the Post before ONE’s Empower card this month. “I have a call with Bibiano. [ONE vice-president] Matt Hume is trying to arrange that call, to see if we can come to an agreement. But I think the fans want to see Bibi versus Lineker, that will be a barnburner of a fight.”

Vancouver-based Fernandes, who trained for years at AMC Pankration in Seattle under head coach Hume, angrily claimed in June that ONE had been ignoring his calls, and that he had not even been offered a fight since submitting Filipino former champ Belingon on the ONE: Century card in October 2019.