“I’m very excited for this fight” - Stephen Loman expects world title shot if he beats Bibiano Fernandes

Stephen Loman always knew that his road to a potential world title shot would somehow lead him to Bibiano Fernandes. After all, the former ONE bantamweight world champion has been at the top of his wish list since joining the promotion last year.

On November 19, inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the 27-year-old Filipino finally gets his dream fight against arguably one of the most dominant forces to ever grace the Circle at ONE on Prime Video 4: Abbasov vs Lee. As the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career looms, ‘The Sniper’ talked about the grand ramifications of this bout.

In an exclusive interview, Stephen Loman told The MMA Super-Fan how thrilled he is to share the Circle with a legend like Fernandes:

“Even before and now this is it. So I’m very excited for this fight.”

He added:

“This is my chance to focus on fighting him and defeating him because he’s the no.1-ranked [contender]. And if I beat him, I will have the chance to fight for the title.”

Watch Stephen Loman’s full interview below:

It’s clearly open season in ONE’s bantamweight division following the shocking events of the John Lineker versus Fabricio Andrade world title fight at ONE on Prime Video 3 last week. The 145-pound throne remains vacant and open for the taking after the bout ended in a highly-controversial no-contest.

Meanwhile, Stephen Loman would love to capitalize on the opportunity at hand and position himself among the next ones in line for a world title shot. A decisive win against a dominant former world champion in Fernandes, no less, certainly puts his name on the shortlist.

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Jeremy Pacatiw says Stephen Loman can withstand Bibiano Fernandes’ elite grappling

Stephen Loman’s fellow ONE bantamweight and Team Lakay teammate Jeremy Pacatiw has always had a front-row seat to see ‘The Sniper’ in training.

While the Filipino slugger is mostly known for that laser left hand, Pacatiw teased that fans will get to see Loman’s underrated grappling arsenal against Fernandes.

‘The Flash’, after all, will likely try and drag the fight to the ground, where he’s had the most success during his storied career. Pacatiw, however, argued that Loman is ready to tangle with the BJJ blackbelt if that happens. ‘The Juggernaut’ said in the same interview:

“I believe that Stephen can grapple with Bibiano if they go to the mat or to the ground, but he must be careful because we watched Bibiano’s fight. He's also a good grappler.”

Stephen Loman has impressed in his first two fights inside the Circle, knocking out Yusup Saadulaev and outpointing Shoko Sato. Fernandes, however, is on a whole different level and we’ll see if the Filipino has what it takes to hang with the big boys of the division.