“I went through a lot of difficulties” - Amir Aliakbari opens up on his first two losses in ONE Championship

At ONE 164, Amir Aliakbari picked up the biggest win of his career to date, stopping former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera in the first round.

Though there was some hype around him when he signed with ONE Championship, things didn’t go Aliakbari’s way at first.

The Iranian suffered back-to-back first-round knockout losses that severely hurt his chances of being a top heavyweight contender in his new promotion. The wrestling specialist, though, has been able to change his fortunes around in his last two fights, with all-important wins over Mauro Cerilli and Brandon Vera this past Saturday.

In his post-event press conference, Amir Aliakbari spoke about the adversity that he faced when he first started in ONE Championship and how he has moved on from those losses:

“Many people don’t know that during the time of COVID, I had eight fights canceled. I came to Singapore numerous times and had to fly back without fights because the fight would get canceled and the venue would get canceled. I went through a lot of difficulties, but that’s all in the past now. Right now, I’m ready to go and right the wrongs.”

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WATCH: Cageside view of Amir Aliakbari sending Brandon Vera into retirement

Iranian heavyweight star Amir Aliakbari secured the biggest win of his career when he stopped Brandon Vera at ONE 164. Knocking out the former world champion in the first round led to a bittersweet moment when Vera retired in the cage in front of his home fans.

Vera, who became the inaugural ONE heavyweight world champion back in 2015, decided to hang up the gloves following a stellar career inside the circle.

For Aliakbari, it was a much-needed win to catapult him to the top tier of the heavyweight division, whilst producing back-to-back wins under ONE Championship.

After Aliakbari secured his second stoppage inside the circle, ONE Championship posted a clip from cageside of the finish:

"An INCREDIBLE TKO from the Persian powerhouse Amir Aliakbari 🤯”

The 34-year-old wrestling specialist had a tough run-in when he signed with ONE Championship. In just his second fight, he was matched up with the current two-division champion Anatoly Malykhin.

After calling for a fight with Vera when he arrived in ONE, Aliakbari got his wish at ONE 164, though the version of ‘The Truth’ that stood across from him was not the same one that was once a dangerous world champion.