ONE Championship: Bibiano Fernandes says retirement is ‘a couple of years’ away, as he awaits offer for next fight
- Former champ has not fought since a March knockout loss to John Lineker, which ended a stunning bantamweight title reign
- The 42-year-old has ‘completed his goals’ but intends to keep competing and is ‘100 per cent’ open to fights with fellow contenders
Bibiano Fernandes is not ready to hang up his gloves just yet.
The 42-year-old Brazilian legend has not fought since he suffered a second-round knockout loss to John Lineker in March, surrendering the ONE Championship bantamweight title in the process. He has been fairly quiet in the three months since, which has led to some speculation that he could be considering retirement.
Not so, says the former champion.
“Of course you guys will see me again,” Fernandes told the Post from his hometown of Manaus, Brazil, where he will promote a local MMA show called BF Mr Cage this Saturday. “My motivation is still here, and I’ll wait to see, but I believe I still can fight for a couple years more.”
While Fernandes (24-5) is still motivated to compete, he admits his loss to Lineker – the first knockout he has ever suffered, and just his second setback in 13 ONE bouts – was initially difficult to digest. But he eventually accepted it, with a little encouragement from one of his coaches.
“I was hurt the first day, second day,” he said. “I was not happy. I was sad. I was very low.
“My coach came to me and said, ‘Bibi, you know what, man? You can choose to stay there or you can move forward’. I chose to move forward.”