ONE FC CEO Victor Cui Surprised By Reports Of Bibiano Fernandes Deal

DREAM bantamweight champion and world-ranked free agent Bibiano Fernandes still remains without a concrete home for his next fight.


Last week UFC officials announced that the 135-pound standout had signed with the promotion and would make his debut against Roland Delorme at July's UFC 149, however, Fernandes disputed the claims shortly after in a Facebook post.


"I would like to make perfectly clear the news concerning my involvement with the UFC," wrote Fernandes. "It was announced that I, Bibiano Fernandes have been contracted to fight for the organization at UFC 149 which will take place in the city of Calgary on the 21st of July. I would like to make it clear that I am not a UFC athlete as I did not sign any contract with the UFC organization. Negotiations between the UFC and myself did take place, however, we could not resolve the issues on the table and as a result we did not come to an agreement."

Published reports later stated that Fernandes had been offered a more lucrative contract with Asian MMA powerhouse ONE Fighting Championship. When speaking with Cage Religion Radio on Friday, ONE FC CEO Victor Cui appeared to be surprised to hear the reports.

"That's an interesting forum discussion because that was all news to me," said Cui. "I look forward to talking to Bibiano if he wants to talk, but that was all new information to me seeing that online and on his Facebook."


Only time will tell where the highly sought after bantamweight will end up, as MMAFighting.com reports that Fernandes will await the arrival of his newborn child in the next two months to decide on his future mixed martial arts home. 


Fernandes has found success in ten of his last eleven outings, having also recently captured the DREAM bantamweight championship on New Year's Eve in Japan.


Cage Religion Radio's full interview with ONE Fighting Championship CEO Victor Cui can be found below: