Bibiano Fernandes-Masakatsu Ueda Title Bout to Headline One FC 15 ‘Rise of Heroes’

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Bibiano Fernandes will defend his One Fighting Championship bantamweight title against fellow grappling specialist Masakatsu Ueda in the main event of One FC 15 “Rise of Heroes.”

The bout was confirmed Monday by the Singapore-based promotion, which will stage its 15th event at Mall of Asia Arena in the Manila suburb of Pasay, Philippines. Also announced for the card was a featherweight fight between Australian “Ruthless” Rob Lisita and Japan’s Yusuke Kawanago, plus a flyweight tilt featuring Gianni Subba and Eugene Toquero.

A former two-division champ in the now-defunct Japanese organization Dream, 33-year-old Fernandes turned down a UFC contract in 2012 to sign with One FC. Since then, “The Flash” has competed twice, capturing the company’s interim bantamweight title against Koetsu Okazaki last May before unifying the belt in an October bout with Soo-Chul Kim. Both of Fernandes’ One FC appearances have lasted five rounds, and both ended in unanimous decisions for the Brazilian.

Ueda, 36, began his career with a 12-bout unbeaten run which saw him capture the Shooto world 132-pound title. Since dropping the belt in a shocking loss to Shuichiro Katsumura in 2010, Ueda has gone 8-1, including three straight victories inside the One FC cage. He last saw action in May 2013, when he outpointed rising Filipino star Kevin Belingon to win the inaugural One FC bantamweight grand prix.