“The next generation of super athletes” - Brandon Vera meets Ruotolo twins in ONE Championship locker room

Brandon Vera and the Ruotolo brothers were just some of the big names competing for ONE Championship this past weekend. With back-to-back events in Manila, ONE ended their year in style with two blockbuster events.

The Ruotolo brothers continued their incredible run in 2022 with both twins, Kade and Tye, picking up victories at ONE on Prime Video 5. Tye Ruotolo submitted his opponent Marat Gafurov earlier in the night. Later on, Kade successfully defended his lightweight submission grappling world championship by winning a decision against Matheus Gabriel.

The following day at ONE 164, Brandon Vera returned to competition for the first time in 18 months. After losing to Amir Aliakbari, the former heavyweight world champion announced his retirement from the sport as the fans showered him with appreciation.

In a post on his Instagram account, Brandon Vera shared a photo he took with the Ruotolo brothers backstage, commenting on their success inside the Circle:

“Been a fan of these brothers since ever since I first met them. This is what the next generation of Super Athletes looks like here @onechampionship and they started 15yrs ago!!! Very much looking forward to what the future holds for these 2 amazing gentlemen. The world need more of the Ruotolo Brothers.”

Vera walked away from MMA as a legend in ONE Championship. But the Ruotolo brothers are just starting to carve out their legacies as two of the best grapplers in the world at just 19 years of age.

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ONE 164 results: Amir Aliakbari sends Brandon Vera into retirement with a first-round TKO

At ONE 164, the former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera made his long-awaited return to competition. After 18 months away from the circle, ‘The Truth’ faced Iran’s Amir Aliakbari in his comeback.

The former champ came out and started to press his opponent, landing calf kicks as he looked to take the fight to his opponent in front of his home crowd in Manila.

Aliakbari looked to implement his wrestling and after refraining from engaging with Vera, he saw his opportunity and secured the takedown with 100 seconds left in the first round. Taking Vera down with relative ease, the Iranian immediately started to pile on the pressure with elbow strikes that forced ‘The Truth’ to turn to his stomach.

Landing strikes that had his opponent covering up underneath them, Aliakbari kept hunting for the finish and when Vera couldn’t fight back or escape the position, the fight was waved off. Though there had been some heat in the build-up to their fight, both men were respectful towards each other as Brandon Vera called time on his career.

Official Result: Amir Aliakbari def. Brandon Vera at 3:37 of Round 1.