MANILA, Philippines -- After an eventful campaign in 2022, Stephen Loman is eyeing greater achievements this year.

"The Sniper" believes he is ready to take the next step in his mixed martial arts career after claiming two big wins in 2022 -- decision wins over Japanese veteran Shoko Sato and former ONE bantamweight world champion Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes.

"I'd look at it as a very good year," the 31-year-old Loman said. "It brought me some of the biggest victories of my career, and I achieved my goals to take everything step by step, move my way up in the rankings, and beat some of the biggest names in the division."

"That year was a very good achievement for me," he added.

He believes that he has momentum on his side as he looks ahead to 2023, where he hopes to face the winner of the Fabricio Andrade-John Lineker title clash.

"I've learned a lot this year. Having fought both Shoko Sato and Bibiano Fernandes, I’ve seen that there will be no easy fights here. Both of them are veterans, and I’ve had to step up my game quickly," said Loman as he recalled the lessons he learned in 2022.

"This year also taught me to push harder, persevere, knowing that the ones that I’ll be facing here are high-level veterans, so I have to push hard during training," he added.

The goal for Loman in 2023 is to win the ONE bantamweight championship, which is currently vacant. Lineker and Andrade will face off for the belt in February.

"My goal in 2023 is to stay active, stay in tip-top condition, and the most important of it all, capture the championship belt. [I want] a chance to compete for that belt and bring that belt home," he said.

Loman's teammate at Team Lakay, Kevin Belingon, previously held the bantamweight belt in 2018, before losing it to Fernandes in March 2019.