Bibiano Fernandes da Silva Neto (born March 30, 1980) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner. A five time World jiu-jitsu champion and three time Pan American champion, Fernandes was considered the top light-featherweight of his generation before transitioning to mixed martial arts (MMA). Fernandes has competed for K-1, DREAM, ONE Championship and King of the Cage. He was the first DREAM Featherweight Champion and DREAM Bantamweight Champion, ONE Bantamweight Champion. He was once ranked as the #5 Bantamweight in the world by MMA Weekly and Fight Matrix as well as the #1 bantamweight outside of the UFC As of November 24, 2022, he is ranked #4 in the ONE Bantamweight rankings. Background Fernandes was born in Manaus and grew up in a neighborhood called Coroado with his family. Fernandes played soccer throughout his childhood. Due to an unhappy relationship, Fernandes' mother became depressed and eventually passed away for an unknown reason when he was seven. His father, Inacio, didn't want to raise the children, so Bibiano and his siblings were sent to live with their aunt in the Amazon rainforest, by the Ituxi River. However, Bibiano caught malaria during their stay in the rainforest and his father was alerted to bring him back to Manaus for treatment. After returning to Manaus, Fernandes attended school for the first time in his life at the age of nine. MMA career At the age of 13, Bibiano was introduced to BJJ, but coming from a poor family he was unable to pay for training. His instructor said he'd continue to train him, as long as he cleaned the gym after the class. This gave Bibiano a profound respect and gratitude for the gym and what it taught. Bibiano says that he'd say to himself when he was a child "good job! You held your ground and believed what you believed." Early career Fernandes fought against world-class competition early in his MMA career. In his second professional fight, Fernandes lost due to a doctor's stoppage to Urijah Faber in a King of the Cage event in Nevada. After dominating the first 2 minutes of the round, even taking Faber's back, he was reversed and received a barrage of elbows that opened up a deep cut on his forehead. Though the fight was officially ruled a doctor stoppage, it was actually stopped by the referee, due to