Two-time ONE Championship and two-weight Dream world champion Bibiano Fernandes has just announced that he wants to make a return to BJJ once his MMA career comes to an end. He was an incredible BJJ competitor before he began his MMA career and won three IBJJF World Championship medals at the black belt back level. In the years since then, Fernandes has put together a 24-6 professional MMA record and established himself as one of the most successful BJJ competitors to ever do MMA.
Bibiano Fernandes announced his decision to return to BJJ after his MMA career in a recent interview with GracieMag:
“I want to compete in BJJ again, but first I need to deal with my situation at One Championship. I haven’t fought for a year and the organization doesn’t offer a fight. I’m waiting to finish this part of my life with One Championship so that I can follow a new path, taking care of my academy, perhaps fighting in the World Masters or other BJJ events. I’m waiting to close this part of my life and turn the page. But I’m already turning the page without waiting for the One Championship.”
It makes sense that Fernandes might be competing in the IBJJF Master World Championship, seeing as he’s currently 43 years old and has had a long combat sports career already. Given the incredibly high level that Fernandes has competed at in both BJJ and MMA, he would almost certainly dominate masters competition similarly to fellow ONE champion Demetrious Johnson has done recently. Even though he hasn’t competed in BJJ for a very long time, Fernandes still watches the sport and keeps up to date with some of the biggest names:
“I like watching Mica Galvao and Diogo Reis, who are also from Manaus. I also like Gordon Ryan, who is an athlete who is evolving a lot. There’s a new generation that I watch in the championships and I like their forward, finishing style. It’s a style I’ve always liked, I’ve never liked to tie up. Besides, their style is good for MMA too, it’s a game they can adapt to if they move to MMA in the future.”
Although none of these elite BJJ competitors have announced a move away from BJJ, Galvao in particular is known for having trained MMA with Rodolfo Veira in the past. It’ll be interesting to see if any of them do decide to make the transition to MMA, and if Bibiano Fernandes gets his wish and makes a return to BJJ competition.