Stephen Loman knows Bibiano Fernandes will take fight to the ground but he’s "ready for it"

‘The Sniper’ Stephen Loman is preparing for the biggest fight of his career to date at ONE on Prime Video 4. On November 18, when ONE returns to the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Loman will face former bantamweight world champion Bibiano Fernandes.

Whilst Loman has looked impressive thus far inside the circle, Bibiano Fernandes’ reign as champion produced one of the most dominant win streaks Asian MMA has ever seen.

Fernandes’ bantamweight supremacy was built off of his grappling abilities, an aspect of his skillset that Stephen Loman is very aware of.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, the Team Lakay fighter referenced the gameplan of the former champion:

“If I can’t put him out with my striking, then I’m ready and I’ll push myself to go through the whole three rounds. I know that Bibiano will constantly shoot for the takedown and he’ll try to take me and bring the fight to the ground. I’ve been working on how to counter his grappling, and I have a gameplan ready for it.”

Bibiano Fernandes will return to the circle for the first time since losing his bantamweight world championship earlier this year. Despite suffering a devastating knockout at the ferocious hands of John Lineker, Fernandes proved that he still has plenty of fight left in him and wouldn’t go away quietly.

Watch the full interview below:

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Stephen Loman says Fabricio Andrade beat John Lineker

With Stephen Loman rising through the bantamweight rankings, the Filipino fighter paid close attention to the recent world title fight in his division. Despite the unsatisfying conclusion to the contest between John Lineker and Fabricio Andrade, Loman believes it was clear who was winning the fight.

Fabricio Andrade rose to the occasion at ONE on Prime Video 3, proving all of his pre-fight predictions to be true. At the time of the no contest stoppage, Andrade had taken control of the fight before he landed a knee to the groin of Lineker, which ended the fight.

Likely finding himself one fight away from his own shot at bantamweight gold, Stephen Loman gave his take on the result during his interview with The MMA Superfan:

"Both Andrade and Lineker really showed their striking game, but I saw that Andrade was really the sharper one between them. I even saw Lineker shoot for a takedown, but even then, Andrade still had the advantage. Andrade easily got up after Lineker’s takedown attempt, and that added another layer during their match."

Andrade took to Instagram after the fight to share his thoughts on the unintentional groin strike, which ultimately ended the bout in a no contest.