When Kevin Belingon goes back to the octagon ring on February 20 in Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar, he will not only meet a legend who has defeated him several times in the past, but also overcome more than two years of inactivity and a five losing streak, two of which came from his upcoming opponent.
The Belingon–Bibiano Fernandes rivalry started nearly nine years ago, with four fights resulting in a 3-1 edge in favor of the former undisputed bantamweight king.
Belingon makes his comeback to the octagon ring after more than two years of inactivity against his biggest rival, ring legend Fernandes in ONE 171.
The 37-year-old Belongon, who last saw action in Nov. 20, 2022 in a losing effort to Jae Woong Kim, will seek to dominate the 44-year-old former bantamweight king who had the most title defense at seven.
The Silencer, who now wears the Lion’s trunk, vowed to dominate his rival and silence the judges for the win.
In an earlier interview, Belingon said: “In this fight, I don’t want to leave it to the judges. I have to get a clear edge and finish Bibiano here.”
He added: “If there’s an opportunity to finish, I’ll be taking it, but I won’t be rushing. I’ll search for an opening and take it from there. The most important thing is to stick to my game plan and dominate this fight.”
It was a bold claim for Belingon, who had not fought since his 2022 defeat to Jae in a five-game losing stretch, but assured his fans that he has been very active. He said that he has been grappling during his time away focusing mostly on jiu-jitsu.
“I know it’s been nearly two years since I last competed, but I’m alright. I’ve been really active in training, all of my teammates have been competing, and I’ve always made myself available as their sparring partner. So there’s no worries on my end,” he said.
“I got to focus on my grappling as well with Professor Gibran [Langbayan]. I’ve been working hard on my jiu-jitsu. I’ve joined and won tournaments in my time away from MMA.”
Belingon first challenged Fernandes in Jan. 23, 2016 for the latter’s belt. He lost in the 4:04 mark of the first round via kimura submission.
He bounced back nine months later to beat Muin Gafurov that started a six-game winning streak that gave him another opportunity to vie for Fernandes’ belt.
The Nov. 19, 2018 showdown against Fernandes was a success as he decided the Brazilian jiu-jitsu master in a five-round thriller.
Belingon’s reign was short lived, however, when they faced each other again for his mandatory defense on March 31, 2019, he was disqualified in the 1:21 mark of the second round via illegal elbows.
Belingon had a chance to regain the title seven months later but was submitted via rear-naked choke at the 1:21 mark of the second round.
From there, Belingon suffered three more defeats: to John Lineker via TKO punches), Won Il Kwon in a KO via punch to the body), and Jae (TKO – punches).
Meanwhile, fellow Lion and strawweight champion Joshua Pacio is expected to face Jared Brooks soon to conclude their trilogy. Brooks wrested the 28-year-old’s belt in Dec. 3, 2022 in Manila but regained the crown in March 1 last year when the American was disqualified in under one minute of the match due to an illegal slam.
By Pigeon Lobien
