Newly-crowned ONE Championship bantamweight title Bibiano Fernandes says the illegal blows from opponent Kevin Belingon had adverse after-effects on him.
Bibiano Fernandes regained the ONE Championship bantamweight title from Kevin Belingon this weekend, but in rather undesirable fashion. As seen on video, Fernandes was on the receiving end of illegal elbows upon completing a takedown and landing inside Belingon’s guard, resulting in a disqualification and the title changing hands.
A couple of days later, “The Flash” spoke with MMA Fighting, claiming he was experiencing untoward reactions from the shots to the head that he absorbed.
“I felt nauseated this morning, had a bad headache after the fight,” Fernandes said. “I’ll spend a few days here in Thailand because I have to, but then I’ll go back to Canada and sit down with my doctor. That guy hit me with nine elbows, man. The TV only showed two, but he landed several strikes. I was dizzy, I didn’t know what to do. I think my coaches made the right call.”
Fernandes says he was unable to remember what transpired during the entire fight.
“I try to remember the fight, but I can’t,” Fernandes said. “I still don’t remember the first round. Doctors said my memory will come back slowly. I still can’t remember the rounds. I remember up until Demetrious Johnson’s fight, and then the referee in front of me with my coaches by my side. I remember my coaches telling me to remain calm, telling me to relax. That’s the only thing I can remember. It sucks.
“Demetrious Johnson told me ‘you had the mount, you took his back, you knocked him down’, and I had no idea I did all that in the fight. He showed me the video of the fight and that’s how I know what happened.”
The Brazilian fighter also sensed that Belingon was already in desperation mode during those moments.
“I was pressuring (Belingon) and he didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I took him down in every round and he couldn’t get back up, so he got desperate. I knew I was going to submit him. I always fight pushing forward.
“Watch my first MMA fights, when I fought Urijah Faber and (“Kid”) Yamamoto, that’s how I always fight, but that’s not what he does. That was his only option, to throw those elbows.”
“I was still recovering and he was already on his feet, waiting,” he continued. “You know what, he thought I would continue to fight. ‘He’s f—d, so I’ll receive a yellow card and come back and do different in the fight.’ But I couldn’t continue. I made the right decision. I’d rather recover and we see what we do later.”
When asked about the idea of fighting Belingon for a fourth time, Fernandes says the promotion would need to consult with him first before making a decision.
After Sunday night, Fernandes now holds a record of 23-4 (with 10 wins by stoppage).