Bibiano Fernandes interested in joining the UFC following contract dispute with ONE
ONE Championship bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes says he is interested in signing a deal with the UFC.
Fernandes is the ONE bantamweight champion and he has been one of the Asian MMA promotion’s top stars since joining the organization in 2012. If you recall, Fernandes was actually set to fight Roland Delorme at UFC 149 in July 2012, but he didn’t end up finalizing his contract with the UFC and the Brazilian instead joined ONE Championship. At the time, ONE was still a new MMA promotion, and signing Fernandes, who had won the DREAM Bantamweight Grand Prix, was a huge deal for the company. It worked out well for the 41-year-old Fernandes, who spent the majority of his prime years as the bantamweight champion in ONE.
The problem is, even though Fernandes is still a champion in ONE, he hasn’t fought since a submission win over Kevin Belingon in October 2019. Speaking to AG Fight, Fernandes admitted that he is currently involved in a contract disagreement with ONE that is keeping him on the sidelines. According to Fernandes, ONE has iced Fernandes and is keeping him on the shelf while it figures out his new contract. If Fernandes doesn’t get a new deal with ONE, then he’s open to finally joining the UFC roster after all these years.
“I was supposed to have fought in the UFC a long time ago. Today’s athletes fight for nothing, they don’t value themselves. I will not do that. You get a four-fight contract and close with victories and then they renew it. The athlete suffers a lot, but we have to keep fighting. At the time (I signed with ONE) I had two children. My manager talked to me and to be famous, it was cool to go to the UFC, but not for my family. I was already DREAM’s featherweight and bantamweight champion and ONE came to talk to me. ONE helps, but they have to finish what they want. At the time of the UFC, it didn’t work for me. (Now) it is possible. We are athletes and we go to challenges. If the challenge is good, we are in,” Fernandes said.
Do you want to see Bibiano Fernandes fight in the UFC?
