“That’s exactly what I did” - Amir Aliakbari fulfills vow to retire Brandon Vera

Amir Aliakbari said he would retire Brandon Vera at ONE 164 and that’s precisely what he did.

The 34-year-old Iranian secured his second straight victory against former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera last Saturday at ONE 164: Joshua Pacio vs. Jarred Brooks at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines.

In the build-up to this matchup, fans were caught in the crossfire as Amir Aliakbari and Brandon Vera exchanged a war of words on social media. While the Filipino legend threatened to teach Alikabari a lesson inside the ring, the former vowed to send Vera into retirement.

In the post-fight interviews at ONE 164, Amir Aliakbari was asked if he respected Brandon Vera despite the intense rivalry they had online. The Iranian heavyweight answered:

“I have a lot of respect for Brandon Vera. He’s been a great champion and he’s a great man as well. But I said I was going to retire him, and that’s exactly what I did, respectfully.”

Amir Aliakbari never looked better at ONE 164. On the path to redemption, Aliakbari has certainly shown another side of his repertoire that fans haven’t seen before.

Against Vera, he was more patient, calmer, and strategic in terms of picking his shots and setting up a takedown.

Everything seemed to fall into place like a game of Tetris for Aliakbari as the fight prolonged. He eventually found an opportunity to risk a takedown which set the end in motion for Vera as Aliakbari found a home for his ground and pound to end the match.

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Arjan Bhullar responds to Amir Aliakbari’s call out with cheeky Instagram post

Heavyweight kingpin Arjan Bhullar responded to Amir Alikabari’s post-ONE 164 call-out with a cheeky Instagram post he uploaded on Monday.

Amir Aliakbari made his intentions known that he’s looking to fight Arjan Bhullar “anywhere, anytime” following his uproarious finish against Brandon Vera on Saturday.

Interim world champion Anatoly Malykhin also expressed the same sentiment after finishing former two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5 that same morning, even though he had little hope believing Bhullar will accept the challenge.

To the shock of many, Arjan Bhullar has since responded to both heavyweights on Instagram with a cheeky response that read:

“Great weekend of fights @onechampionship I've been cleared since November 7th. 2 heavyweights called me out this weekend. Give me the "scariest" one first🙏🏾 #TeamBhullar #OneBillionStrong”