Bibiano Fernandes-John Lineker Set For ONE Title Fight

Reigning ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes will put his title on the line against John Lineker at ONE: X.

The event takes place December 5 and also features Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

For Fernandes and Lineker, the bout serves as a tremendous opportunity.

Fernandes has long been considered one of the top bantamweight in the world. He reclaimed the belt in 2019 with a disqualification win over Kevin Belingon.

In 2018, he suffered his first loss in eight years via split decision to Belington. Overall, Fernandes is 24-4 with 11 stoppage wins.

“He said he’s going to ‘beat Bibiano.’ Beat me? No. You are going to try to beat me because a lot of guys have tried. A lot of guys said they could beat me, no problem, let them try one more time,” Fernandes said. “Let him come and I will do what I did previously again and protect my belt. My friend, you told me you’re going to knock me out too. A lot of people give me attitude, I’m about to knock you out, that’s my goal.

“I don’t see his confidence. If you look at him, he doesn’t look confident. He looks pretty big also and that’s what I have said in the past, it’s hard for him to make weight. Maybe he won’t even make weight. In the past, when he fought T.J. Dillashaw, they had a good fight but he didn’t make the weight. He’s supposed to make the weight. From how I see it, that’s not professional. I always make weight. I know it is in the past and you have to move forward, but you still have to learn from the past. The way I see it, I am ready to go. I can fight him tomorrow.”

Lineker, a former UFC title challenger, has won three in a row including a finish of Belingon. He secured his title fight wit ha first round knockout of Troy Worthen in April.

“I’m looking forward to being the champion at ONE Championship,” Lineker said. “If it’s going to be him, so be it. Bibiano owns the belt, I want the belt, so I want to beat him. He has the belt and I want the belt. I want to be the champion.

“He’s the champion, I respect him but he said he is going to knock me out and you know, a lot of fighters said that they are going to knock me out. But he has never fought with a guy like me before, so we will see. I’m always looking for the knockout, if it is going to be in the first round, all good. If not, I’ll look out for a KO in any other rounds.”

The card from Singapore and the Singapore Indoor Stadium also includes Thanh Le defending his featherweight title vs. Garry Tonon.