Stephen Loman scored the biggest win of his career at ONE on Prime Video 4 this morning. The Filipino dominated former bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes from start to finish.
It was the third straight win of Loman’s ONE Championship career and has probably earned him a shot at the winner of the upcoming title fight between John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade. The Filipino came out aggressively in the opening round, backing Fernandes up with an array of strikes.
Loman mixed up head kicks, side kicks and punches as the Brazilian spent the first round on the back foot. He was even able to take the BJJ black belt down which underlined his dominance.
It seemed Fernandes was saving himself for the second round as he came out more aggressively. Loman was able to take him down again but gave up his back in the process.
It is the type of mistake that Fernandes has punished fighters for throughout his career. But Loman was able to escape and reverse the position.
Stephen Loman 🇵🇠MANHANDLED Bibiano Fernandes to take the win by unanimous decision! Should he face the winner of Lineker vs. Andrade II? 👑 pic.twitter.com/mKbJhfTpxC
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 19, 2022
Speed and stamina
Loman’s teammate Kevin Belingon, who was stopped in the opening round by Kim Jae Woong on this card, did score a split decision win over Fernandes. But in the four times they fought he was never able to outclass the Brazilian in the way that Loman did here.
By the third round Fernandes looked to be running out of gas but Loman came on strong. He was constantly walking forwards and testing his opponents defences with high kicks and punches.
Towards the end of the round Loman slammed Fernandes down and the fight finished with the Filipino raining down punches from inside his opponent’s guard. The Brazilian is 12 years the senior of the two bantamweights and could not live with his opponent’s speed and stamina.
With the victory Loman improves to 17-2 and extends his winning streak to 11. He hasn’t ended the career of the Brazilian veteran who declared afterwards that he wanted to continue competing.
But he has established himself as the #1 contender in the division as well as reminding people just why Team Lakay is so highly regarded. After this win Loman can expect a bantamweight title shot in 2023.
