‘I Love Coaching’ – With Retirement Looming, MMA Legend Bibiano Fernandes Embraces A New Chapter
After a remarkable MMA career filled with high-profile wins on the biggest stages, Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes is ready to focus his attention on new endeavors. But before the 44-year-old rides off into the sunset, he’ll compete one more time this week.
On Thursday, February 20, the Brazilian icon will face longtime rival Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon in a bantamweight MMA contest at ONE 171: Qatar inside Lusail Sports Arena.
That clash will mark the final fight of the former 11-time ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion’s lengthy and accomplished professional tenure – and his first fight since 2022.
In his time away from competitive action, Fernandes has kept busy, training and coaching in his very first martial art: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
While fighting at an elite level in MMA takes a heavy toll on his body, “The Flash” told onefc.com that BJJ is something he plans to practice for decades to come.
“Jiu-jitsu, I can do until I’m 50, 80. I would still do jiu-jitsu forever. And coaching. I love coaching, too.”
Fernandes’ passion for coaching BJJ has led to the next chapter of his life.
In 2023, he opened up Flash Academy Martial Arts in British Columbia, Canada. The transition from fighter to business owner and instructor was a natural one, he said:
“A long time ago, I had a dream to have my own school. If you’re a World Champion – any World Champion, doesn’t matter who you are – if you have reached that level of a World Champion, then you have knowledge to teach people.
“Especially if you come from humble beginnings and you reached this level, for sure you have something to teach.”
Indeed, Fernandes enjoyed a remarkable climb from a poverty-stricken childhood in Brazil to become a global superstar and the most dominant bantamweight MMA fighter in ONE history, competing in 15 thrilling battles inside the world’s largest martial arts organization.
Given his life experiences and the trials and tribulations he went through, it’s no surprise that he’s teaching much more than just grappling at his new state-of-the-art academy:
“My school is not all about jiu-jitsu. Jiu-jitsu is one piece. Life is much bigger. If you don’t help people understand that, a lot of people fail or go do drugs or other bad things. Jiu-jitsu helps teach one aspect, but life is so much bigger than that.”
‘Life Is Evolution’
Many fighters struggle to move from competing in front of sold-out crowds to whatever the next phase of life brings them, but that’s not the case with Bibiano Fernandes.
He’s grown to accept that the only constant is change. So rather than feeling sad that his MMA career is coming to an end, he’s embracing his new role:
“I like to evolve. I think everyone has the opportunity to grow. Doesn’t matter what it is, but maybe you’re going through something. But if you stay at home, inside your house, complaining, you’re not going to find the solution.”
Of course, the Brazilian’s legendary journey to the top of the combat sports world wasn’t without setbacks, losses, and difficult times.
Fernandes said those challenges helped mold him into the man he is today – and that he wouldn’t have it any other way:
“For me, life is evolution. In life, you have to go through stuff in your way for you to grow. That’s the way of life. Some people say that life is different for them. But I don’t think so.
“Life is full of challenges that push you to grow. Like diamonds, you need to be put through pressure to reach perfection.”
