Former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes. Handout/ONE Championship

MANILA -- Former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes has faced archrival Kevin Belingon so many times that he has built a relationship with Filipino fans.

And while looking back at one of his previous fights against "The Silencer," Fernandes figured that it was a rivalry he can revisit.

Fernandes and Belingon will clash for a fifth time when they meet in a three-round bantamweight MMA bout at ONE 171: Qatar this Thursday, February 20, inside Lusail Sports Arena in Doha.   

READ: Kevin ‘The Silencer’ Belingon to face Bibiano ‘The Flash’ Fernandes in ONE 171

READ: Belingon warns Fernandes - 'I'm still deadly'

"Let me put it this way. The other day, I was watching a fight between me and Kevin. I was watching that on Facebook, it just showed up and said it had 29 million views. That fight was watched 29 million times," said Fernandes.

Even though he has become a foil for the Filipino veteran, Fernandes has been shown love and respect by Filipino fans. A short layover in Manila was enough to remind him of the warm welcome that he gets whenever he is in the country.

"I was here in Canada, had a stopover in Manila, before I flew out to Thailand. While I was in Manila, everybody came to say hi to me. For the Filipino fans, [this fight is] a 100 percent," he said.

It has been a while since both men have competed in the ring, but Fernandes still expects nothing but the best from Belingon.

"Kevin is a tough dude. He's explosive and very dangerous. He has good power. He's been in ONE Championship for a long time as well. We've both been there for a long time," he said.

"When [ONE CEO] Chatri [Sityodtong] asked me if I wanted to fight Kevin, I said, 'Yeah, let's do it.' And that's it. I'm here now."