“He grabs them, they freak out” - Brandon Vera says opponents are scared of ‘Buchecha’

At ONE 164, former heavyweight champion Brandon Vera will make his highly-anticipated return to competition. ‘The Truth’ will step into Manila on December 3 as a hometown hero after over 18 months away from the circle.

In the time that Vera has been away, the heavyweight division landscape has changed in his absence.

A new top challenger has made a huge impact on the division in the time since Vera last competed. Multiple-time jiu jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has made a great transition into MMA and put together four consecutive wins under the ONE Championship banner.

As Brandon Vera looked on from the sidelines, he’s been a big fan of watching Buchecha compete. In an interview with The MMA Superfan, ‘The Truth’ spoke about the impact that the submission expert has made:

“That guy, he’s something else man. He’s amazing to watch compete. He’s not very clean on his feet, but he commits and he’s not scared. While he’s figuring out what he’s gonna do on the feet, whoever he’s fighting is always trying to figure out how they’re gonna be submitted even when they’re on the feet. He’s already in their heads before they start fighting. You can see it, as long as he grabs them they freak out. A match with Buchecha would be awesome.”

Watch the full interview below:

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“He's going to go to sleep one way or another” - Brandon Vera expects knockout finish over Amir Aliakbari

In the former heavyweight champion's return at ONE 164, Brandon Vera will face a dangerous opponent in Amir Aliakbari. The decorated Iranian wrestler and ‘The Truth’ have exchanged words in the past, but on December 3, they will meet face-to-face.

Vera will be returning to competition in front of his home fans in Manila. In ONE Championship, Vera has gone undefeated when competing in the Philippines, producing four first-round knockouts consecutively during his world championship reign.

While speaking to CNN Sports Desk, Vera spoke about keeping this streak going by coming back in a big way with a knockout win over Aliakbari:

"Aliakbari is a big dangerous opponent. He's scary. But we've seen it in the past, you just have to touch him. And in this fight, whether it be five, 10 minutes, or 15 minutes, what are the odds that I'm going to touch him on the chin? Ask yourself that, and know that he's going to go to sleep one way or another."

Watch the full interview below:

Amir Aliakbari had set his sights on Brandon Vera when he debuted with ONE Championship but both men had to endure tough moments in their careers. With the fight finally being here, the Iranian will be hoping that he can defeat the hometown hero and break his run of devastating finishes when fighting in Manila.