“We’ve been preparing for it” - Stephen Loman working to counter Bibiano Fernandes’ rear-naked choke

ONE bantamweight superstar and Team Lakay athlete Stephen Loman will be taking on perhaps the toughest challenge of his career to date at ONE on Prime Video 4. 'The Sniper' will face former ONE bantamweight world champion and multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world gold medalist Bibiano 'The Flash' Fernandes.

One of the most threatening aspects of Fernandes' MMA arsenal, unsurprisingly, is his jiu-jitsu. Nine of his of his 24 wins have come by way of submission, and most of them were courtesy of his dreaded rear-naked choke.

Stephen Loman understands full well the dangers of letting Fernandes take your back as his own teammate, Kevin Belingon, suffered it three years ago. Belingon had a four-fight rivalry with Fernandes, during which he had many entanglements on the ground with the Brazilian former world champ.

This works tremendously to Loman's advantage as he has a unique insight into the grappling prowess of Fernandes. Speaking to The MMA Superfan, Loman spoke about how he and his team are preparing for Fernandes' submissions, particularly the rear-naked choke:

"Yeah, we’ve been drilling how to counter his rear-naked chokes. We know that it’s one Bibiano’s favorite submission holds, that’s why we’ve been preparing for it."

Catch the full interview below:

---

Stephen Loman reveals the key to countering Bibiano Fernandes' rear-nake choke

Expounding further into his statement, Stephen Loman revealed something simple that will allow him to defend against Bibiano Fernandes' patented submission technique:

"My training partner and I constantly drill on what I would do if Bibiano takes my back. When the fight comes, I know that I should be careful and not allow him to get my back. My defense should be on point, too. If the fight gets to the ground, I have to make sure that I’m in dominant position and that my back won’t be taken."

In the world of grappling, there's an age-old adage that goes "drillers make killers." While this couldn't be more true, the saying also applies to defenses against killers, so to speak.

Simulating an attack over and over again allows a fighter to familiarize themselves with the nuances of it, further allowing them to stop it every step of the way.

Another concept Stephen Loman also brushed on is the idea of avoidance. The best defense for a choke is to not get in the position in the first place. When someone's already on your back with full hooks and an over-under grip, you're already 90% done.

Being in dominant positions like full mount, side control or back mount allows fighters to stop their opponent's advances towards their back. If their opponent is nowhere near getting their back, they're light years away from getting the rear-naked choke.