Fighter of the Month: December 2011 – Bibiano Fernandes
By Justin Bolduc
Fighter of the Month: Bibiano Fernandes
Event: Dream Genki Desu Ka 2011 (December 31, 2011)
Opponents: Rodolfo Marques Diniz & Antonio Banuelos
Result: Unanimous decision & first round TKO
Dream staple Bibiano Fernandes had a difficult task ahead of him in in Dream’s Bantamweight Grand Prix. Having already been crowned the first Dream featherweight champion, Fernandes punched his ticket into the bantamweight semi-finals with a forty-one second rear naked choke against Takafumi Otsuka in September. This set the stage for him to face Rodolfo Marques Diniz in the semi-finals on New Year’s Eve, and then face either Antonio Banuelos or Masakazu Imanari in the finals that same night.
Fernandes used a double-leg in the opening round of his bout with Diniz, working elbows to the body throughout the round. Towards the end of the round there was a stand-up by referee Akira Shoji, but aside from a controlling round with some ground and pound, not much occurred. The second round stayed on the feet, with lots of tie-ups. It was a fairly uneventful meeting with Fernandes’ tournament experience showing as he edged out the decision injury free.
In the finals Fernandes met up with WEC stand-out Banuelos, who edged out a split decision of his own against Masakazu Imanari. Fernandes pressed Banuelos immediately, who answered back with punches, but a head kick and punches from the Brazilian sent Banuelos to the mat. Fernandes swarmed and unleashed a couple dozen blistering punches before referee Kenichi Serizawa called a stop to action at 1:21 of the first round.
What’s next for Fernandes is up in the air. A rubber match with Hiroyuki Takaya – the man he earned and lost featherweight gold to, is an interesting match-up. With the decline in Japanese mixed martial arts however, many fans have been interested to see what the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist could do stateside in the UFC.
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