Stephen Loman dominated former ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes, getting a statement win with a unanimous decision in ONE on Prime Video 4, Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium
Loman showed who's boss and unleashed a more aggressive yet controlled side of him, attacking Fernandes from all angles with his precise striking before leveling his ground game against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert.
A huge takedown in the first round controlled the tempo for Loman, who earned the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career by far, as he matched the ex-champion with his improved wrestling and grappling.
Much to the surprise of the crowd, Loman even escaped the short submission attempt by Fernandes in the second round before unleashing more strikes and ground and pound action to punish the Brazilian grappling artist.
In the third round, Loman took control of the situation against the gassed Fernandes as he scored another late takedown to fully capitalize on the situation.
The 27-year-old Loman, nicknamed as "The Sniper," locked on his target, got on a dominant top position, and bombarded Fernandes with powerful hammer fists.
Loman almost got the finish as Fernandes couldn't put his guard up but the former champion was saved by the bell as referee Olivier Coste intervened.
The Team Lakay stalwart, who inched closer to a possible title shot with the seat being vacated recently, improved to a 17-2 record while Fernandes fell to a 24-6 slate.
A rematch between John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade is already set in stone on February next year as the former missed his weight in their first encounter which resulted in the stripping of his belt.
Meanwhile, Loman's mentor in facing Fernandes and teammate Kevin Belingon suffered his fifth straight loss (20-10) against Kim Jae Woong (13-6)
A solid left hook paved the way for Kim to send Belingon down the canvas for the ground and pound action as the South Korean easily hacked out a first-round technical knockout win.