“He's not going to turn down any fight” - ONE Championship CEO says Brandon Vera’s ready to fight for Filipino crowd

Former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera is scheduled to make his long-awaited return to the Circle at ONE 164. Nearly a year and a half removed from his last appearance, ‘The Truth’ will take on UWW Grecco-Roman Wrestling world champion Amir Aliakbari.

During his appearance on CNN Sports Desk, ONE Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong shared his excitement to see Brandon Vera back in the Circle as part of the promotion’s stacked weekend of back-to-back events highlighted by a whopping five world title showdowns:

“But like Brandon is, he's a true warrior. He's a true hero, he's not going to turn down any fight. He wants to face Amir Aliakbari and come to the Philippines to do it. 100 million people will be watching from the Philippines. I know it. It's one of those fights, it has that big fight feel to it. And it's going to end by KO.”

Debuting for ONE Championship in 2014, Brandon Vera scored four straight on his way to becoming the ONE heavyweight king. Unfortunately, Vera’s world title reign would come to an end following two successful title defenses. ‘The Truth’ suffered a second-round knockout against current heavyweight titleholder Arjan Bhullar at ONE: Dangal in May 2021.

Watch the interview below:

---

Brandon Vera believes it’ll only take blow to put Amir Aliakbari away

When Brandon Vera makes his epic return to the Circle, he knows that he’s stepping into a dangerous situation against an accomplished wrestler Amir Aliakbari, but ‘The Truth’ believes he can put the Iranian monster to sleep with one solid strike:

"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."

While Aliakbari has a solid 11-3 record in his MMA career, he is 1-2 inside the Circle with his first two outings resulting in back-to-back first-round knockouts. That will be Vera’s best path to victory, assuming he can stay on his feet. This will be the true test against a wrestling-heavy powerhouse like Amir Aliakbari.

Will Brandon Vera get back into the win column at ONE 164 or will the Iranian wrestler score his second-straight win inside the Circle?