ONE Championship highlights Brandon Vera’s life and martial arts journey ahead of highly anticipated return

Former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera will be making his much-awaited return to action at ONE 164 on December 3. 'The Truth' will be one of many Filipino fighters who will be fighting on the card, including ONE strawweight world champion Joshua 'The Passion' Pacio, who will be fighting in the main event.

Ahead of Vera's main card bout against Amir Aliakbari in front of his home crowd in Manila, ONE put together an Instagram post chronicling the Filipino-American MMA icon's martial arts journey:

"Brandon Vera will never back down from a challenge 😤 The Filipino-American makes his return to the Circle on December 3 to take on Amir Aliakbari at ONE 164! 👊 @brandonthetruthvera"

From growing up with nine siblings in Virginia, USA, to grinding it out in different promotions for 12 years to finally winning his first world title in ONE Championship, Vera's journey is a true depiction of a warrior's path.

Now that he's nearing the final stretch of his career, 'The Truth' is primed and ready to make another shot at gold. It all starts with his return inside the circle at ONE 164.

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ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong believes Brandon Vera is working on getting back into the world title picture

ONE CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong recently sat down with CNN Sports Desk to talk about ONE 164. One of the interesting points of the conversation was about the return of Fil-Am MMA icon Brandon Vera.

Vera was last seen losing back-to-back bouts against Aung La N Sang and Arjan Bhullar in 2019 and 2021, respectively. In the interview, Sityodtong spoke about Vera's relationship with his people and how, even at 45 years old, he is still very much willing and able to make another run at the world title:

"He [Vera] is obviously a superstar, and he's not just the most decorated Filipino athlete in ONE, but I would argue he's the most decorated Filipino athlete in martial arts, full stop, ever. He's reached the pinnacle of the sport in ONE and I think he's hungry to get his title back."

In this new generation of combat sports, age is no longer an issue when it comes to performing at the top. With new technologies and methods created to push the human body above and beyond its limits, fighters can still be competitive with men half their age.

With excellent examples set by the likes of Randy Couture, Glover Teixeira and former ONE bantamweight king Bibiano Fernandes, we don't see any reason why Brandon Vera won't be able to win another world title in the future.