ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong wasted little time in setting up a fourth meeting between Kevin "The Silencer" Belingon and Bibiano "Flash" Fernandes after the unfortunate ending of their trilogy at ONE: A NEW ERA from the iconic Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan last Sunday. The match ended in a disqualification after Belingon landed a couple of illegal strikes to the back of the Brazilian's head in the third round, prompting the referee to stop the match and give the challenger time to recover.
Initially given a yellow card, Belingon was ultimately penalized with a red card. That effectively disqualified him from the match-up and gave Fernandes the victory and the ONE Bantamweight World Championship.Sityodtong said the illegal strikes were completely accidental, and he also stressed that no one wants to have their hand raised with a conclusion like that.
“There will be an automatic rematch. Bibiano didn't want the belt under those circumstances. Bibiano is a true World Champion in every sense of the word,” he said in the post-event press conference.
“The elbow was unfortunate, and he was not able to continue. We will see an immediate rematch.”
Belingon, for his part, was naturally apologetic.
The hard-hitting Filipino said there was no intention to hurt Fernandes, explaining that those things happen in the heat of the moment.
“I would like to apologize for what happened there,” he said.
“I didn’t really mean [for that to happen]. I was disappointed when they gave me the red card, I thought I was winning the first and second round. Things happen, you know?”
While a date for their fourth bout has not been announced, there are plenty of reasons to see this rivalry go beyond three battles.
“Bibiano is the champion due to technicality. He didn't want to win that belt that way. For sure, Belingon didn't want to lose that way either,” said Sityodtong.
“These are two warriors, two of the best in the world. They need to have another shot, fair and square.”