Stephen Loman Overcomes Odds To Beat Bibiano Fernandes At ONE On Prime Video 4

There's no denying that Bibiano Fernandes is a wanted man in the Cordillera Central mountain range of Northern Luzon in the Philippines as he figured in a four-fight series against hometown hero Kevin Belingon.

The former ONE bantamweight champion—who had a combined reign of 2,924 days as the division kingpin—got the better of the grueling rivalry that ended a little over three years ago.

Belingon may have fallen short to take Fernandes down once and for all, but the Brazilian legend's name was never written off on the hit list.

Belingon's Team Lakay comrade Stephen Loman took the assignment and pulled off the impossible in a 69.5-kilogram catchweight contest on the main card of ONE on Prime Video 4 on Saturday morning, November 19 (Friday evening, November 18 in the United States).

Fittingly enough, the man known by the moniker "Sniper" gunned down a high-value target such as Fernandes by way of clear-cut unanimous decision, an accomplishment that was witnessed by the capacity crowd inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Over the course of three rounds, the 27-year-old native of Ifugao, Philippines looked a step ahead on all fronts as he easily prevented Fernandes from employing his own offense while also picking the Brazilian in the stand-up department as well as on the ground.

Right off the bat, Loman brought the fight to Fernandes as the Team Lakay standout bombarded his opponent with a flow of heavy kicks to the midsection from the southpaw stance.

Without any significant offense from a stifled Fernandes, Loman surprisingly changed levels and scored a quick single-leg takedown that allowed him to land on the Brazilian's back.

Though Loman's moment on the ground was very brief, the Filipino let his striking do the talking for the remainder of the opening salvo.

At the start of the second frame, Fernandes made an attempt to snatch the momentum away from Loman as he caught his cage counterpart with a wild right hand before he fished for a back-take to position the Filipino for a rear-naked choke.

Unfortunately for a grappling savant such as Fernandes, Loman came in prepared for a precarious position on the mat as he pulled off a reversal and seized a dominant top control.

Having Fernandes all to himself, the ex-BRAVE CF bantamweight titleholder never hesitated to rain down a plethora of ground strikes to send a stern warning that he shouldn't be taken lightly on the mat.

It was in the third and final round where Loman knew that the victory was within his reach as he took Fernades for a ride with two picture-perfect belly-to-belly takedowns and then pummeled the Brazilian for the majority of the period with an incessant series of strikes, which drew a thunderous chorus of cheers from the crowd

The scorecards made it official as Loman earned an undivided nod from the three judges at cageside.

With an impressive all-around performance versus Fernandes, Loman extended his winning streak to 11 fights with an improved professional record of 17-2.

Loman may face the winner of the rematch between John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade for the ONE bantamweight championship, which is slated to happen in February of next year.

On the other hand, Fernandes lost his second consecutive bout and dropped to a 24-6 slate.