“I cannot ask for a better place” - Bibiano Fernandes honored that final fight of his MMA career took place in Qatar

Brazilian MMA legend Bibiano Fernandes has called it a career and was happy he got to do it in Qatar, where he received a lot of love and appreciation in his final match last week.

'The Flash' put a dot on an illustrious two-decade career at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 at the Lusail Sports Arena, defeating Filipino rival Kevin Belingon by split decision. It was his fourth victory in five matches over 'The Silencer' in ONE Championship.

During the post-event press conference following his victory, Fernandes spoke fondly of Qatar, highlighting how there was no perfect place to end it all for him than in the emirate.

The 45-year-old former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion said:

"One more thing is, I want to thank the Qatari people, for having me here in this country, beautiful country. I'm very proud of being here. I mean, I cannot ask for a better place to finish my fight. Thank you. Thank you."

At ONE 171, Bibiano Fernandes had it tough against Belingon but did just enough to earn the nod for a split-division win to extend his dominance over the Filipino fighter.

The full replay of ONE 171: Qatar is available via watch.onefc.com.

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Bibiano Fernandes believes it was only fitting his last fight was against Kevin Belingon

While Qatar served as a perfect venue for his final match, Bibiano Fernandes said it was only fitting that it was against Filipino rival Kevin Belingon.

He underscored this ahead of his showdown against the Lions Nation MMA standout at ONE 171: Qatar last week, saying they had a lot of history together in ONE Championship. Fans would have appreciated it if they went at it for one last time in the Circle.

Bibiano Fernandes said in an interview with the promotion:

"Let me put it this way. The other day, I was watching a fight between me and Kevin. I was watching that on Facebook, it just showed up and said it had 29 million views. That fight was watched 29 million times."

He added:

"I was here in Canada, had a stopover in Manila, before I flew out to Thailand. While I was in Manila, everybody came to say hi to me. For the Filipino fans, [this fight is] a hundred percent, yes."

Fernandes and Belingon first met in January 2016, with the former winning and retaining the bantamweight MMA world title he was holding then. He lost in their rematch in November 2018 but won the next two in March and October 2019.