(Video courtesy of YouTube/HelloJapan)

According to a report by Tatame, Bibiano Fernandes (8-3) will cut to bantamweight to compete in this year’s DREAM bantamweight grand prix. The former DREAM featherweight champion will drop to 135 for the first time since losing a 2006 King of the Cage championship bout to then-champion Urijah Faber when he competes in the opening round of the tournament against a yet-t-be-named opponent on September 24 in Japan.

To prepare for the bout, “The Flash,” who has lived and trained the past few years in British Columbia, Canada, will travel to the U.S. at the request of Matt Hume to train at the respected MMA trainer’s AMC Pankration gym in Seattle, Washington.

“He called me in for training on his gym and I accepted it. I liked his training [methods] and his dedication as a teacher. There’s Demetrious [Johnson] there, who’s really good and is fighting in the bantamweight division in UFC,” Fernandes explained. “There’re good athletes there… I liked the Muay Thai, Boxing and Wrestling trainings and I thought ‘there are good trainings here’. In Canada I’m no longer training at Revolution, so I decided to go on Monday and I’m going there.”

Fernandes will leave behind his wife and six-month-old son in B.C. while he readies for his next bout.

“I’ve talked to my wife and said: ‘Baby, here’s the deal: this is my life, that’s my job, so take care of things, take care of Gabriel, help me out because I need to win this GP’. I’ll be focusing on it, with no risks, only training,” he explained. “After you turn into a father things change, your head changes, the way you live changes.”

As far as the weight cut goes, the 31-year-old native of Manaus, Brazil says he’s close to the 134-pound limit now but he says he doesn’t expect to hear whom he will be fighting until a few days out from the bout, as such is the norm in Japan.

“Now I’m weighting [141 lbs], so I’ll have no problems being on the right weight, so it’s my natural weight and I’ll just have to lose [a few] more pounds more, so it’s ok. They haven’t told me anything about [who I will face]. In Japan they tell you who your opponent is three weeks in advance and so far they haven’t told me anything,” Fernandes points out. “I don’t like talking much, because I’m a cool guy, but I guarantee I won’t let my fans down.”