Bibiano Fernandes offered fight at Rizin FF, anxious to defend ONE Championship belt

Shinya Aoki wasn’t the only ONE champion offered a fight at Rizin Fighting Federation.

Winner of five straight title bouts in ONE Championship, bantamweight star Bibiano Fernandes was offered a fight by Rizin FF president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin FF will hold two events in December, including an openweight clash between Aoki and PRIDE star Kazushi Sakuraba at the Saitama Super Arena on Dec. 29.

"They contacted me and offered to fight in this event, but we didn’t get to a deal," Fernandes told MMAFighting.com. "ONE asked me to wait because they want me to defend my title soon."

Fernandes won the ONE interim title in 2013, and unified belts with a unanimous decision win over Soo Chul Kim before defending the 135-pound gold with wins over Masakatsu Ueda, Dae Hwan Kim and Toni Tauru.

"They wanted me fighting this year in China, but I don’t think it will happen," Fernandes said. "They told me to wait a week until they get it done, so I’m still waiting for their call."