The two-time bantamweight champion has spent nearly a decade as a promotional cornerstone, as he headlined events, engaged in memorable rivalries and built his reputation as one of the most accomplished competitors never to appear in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Fernandes has won 16 of his past 18 bouts, managing to remain a viable commodity well into his 40s. He last fought at One Championship “Lights Out,” where he surrendered his 145-pound title to John Lineker in the second round of their hotly anticipated March 11 pairing.
As Fernandes awaits word on his next assignment from One Championship matchmakers, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:
42: Years of age for Fernandes, who was born on March 30, 1980 in Manaus, Brazil—the only city in the Amazon rainforest with a population that exceeds 1,000,000 people.
9: Fernandes victories by submission, accounting for 38% of his career total (24). His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes, two triangle chokes, one armbar and one kimura. Fernandes holds two other victories by knockout or technical knockout, 12 more by decision and another by disqualification.
2,924: Days spent by Fernandes as undisputed One Championship bantamweight titleholder. It covers two separate reigns, from Oct. 18, 2013 to Nov. 9, 2018 and March 31, 2019 to March 11, 2022.
16: Calendar years in which Fernandes has fought at least once. In addition to his 0-1 mark in 2022, he went 1-0 in 2004, 0-1 in 2006, 0-1 in 2007, 2-0 in 2008, 4-0 in 2009, 1-1 in 2010, 3-0 in 2011, 2-0 in 2012, 2-0 in 2013, 2-0 in 2014, 1-0 in 2015, 2-0 in 2016, 1-0 in 2017, 1-1 in 2018 and 2-0 in 2019.
58: Rounds completed by Fernandes as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 15 different occasions and carries a 12-3 record in those bouts.
3: Continents on which Fernandes has competed since he first appeared on the mixed martial arts scene in 2004. He has gone 21-4 in Asia, 2-1 in North America and 1-0 in South America.
4: Sub-minute finishes on the Fernandes resume. He tapped Luis Figueroa with a rear-naked choke in 42 seconds at Jungle Fight 3 on Oct. 23, 2004, dispatched Len Tam with a triangle choke in 58 seconds at Raw Combat “Redemption” on Oct. 25, 2008, dismissed Joe Warren with an armbar in 42 seconds at Dream 11 on Oct. 6, 2009 and put Takafumi Otsuka to sleep with a rear-naked choke in 41 seconds at Dream 17 on Sept. 24, 2011.
2: Fernandes losses by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 40% of his career total (five). Lineker and former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Urijah Faber were the perpetrators, their victories over the Brazilian separated by an incredible 15 years, four months and 11 days.
6: Organizations in which Fernandes has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 12-2 in One Championship, 9-0 in Dream, 2-0 in Raw Combat, 0-2 in K-1, 1-0 in Jungle Fight and 0-1 in King of the Cage.
.716: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Lineker, Faber, Kevin Belingon, Hiroyuki Takaya and Norifumi Yamamoto—who have defeated Fernandes. They sport a combined record of 131-50-2.