All of a sudden, Bibiano Fernandes has become one of the hottest free agents in MMA.
According to sources close to the DREAM bantamweight champion, Fernandes had verbally agreed to sign with the UFC last week. That’s when the organization announced that he would meet Roland Delorme at UFC 149 on July 21.
However, moments later, he was offered a more lucrative deal from ONE FC. Fernandes was then forced to make a difficult decision: sign with the more established UFC for less money or take a chance on ONE FC, who was offering a bigger contract.
While it initially seemed as though Fernandes was leaning towards signing with the UFC, his wife, who is seven months pregnant, wanted him to take more time weigh his options. So Fernandes and his wife have decided to wait until their child is born in two months before deciding who they will sign with. Once the UFC was made aware of that decision, they pulled him from UFC 149. Delorme is expected to receive a new opponent in the coming days.
As a result, don’t expect to see Fernandes fighting for the UFC or ONE FC this summer, as was originally expected.
ONE FC officials did not respond to MMAFighting.com’s request for a comment on the situation.
The 32-year-old Fernandes (11-3) has won 10 of his last 11 fights. He most recently won the DREAM bantamweight grand prix on New Year’s Eve 2011 in Japan.