MACAU — Vancouver-based Bibiano (The Flash) Fernandes defended his One Championship bantamweight title on Saturday, submitting American Andrew Leone to win the mixed martial arts fight in the main event of One: Kings & Conquerors.
Fernandes made quick work of Leone (8-3-0), submitting him with a rear-naked choke in the first frame to set an unprecedented One Championship record of seven successful title defences.
The 37-year-old Fernandes (21-3-0) was born in Brazil but has lived in Canada for the last 11 years. He became a Canadian citizen a year ago.
"Thank you for my family in Canada and my family in Brazil who are watching me right now. I am here to stay," Fernandes said after the fight. "I welcome all challenges. … Whoever I have to fight, I will accept. I am always ready."
Fernandes has won 20 of his last 21 fights including 13 straight since losing a decision to Hiroyuki Takaya on a K-1 card in Saitama, Japan, on Dec. 31, 2010.
Leone spent the last few years training and teaching in Thailand and Indonesia. He has fought just four times in the last five years but has won three fights under the One Championship banner.
Fernandes won the organization’s interim 135-pound title in May 2013 when he beat Japan’s Koetsu Okazaki, then made the bantamweight title his own by defeating South Korea’s Soo Chul Kim that October.
In December, he signed a new three-year deal with One Championship.
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