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Former ONE heavyweight champion Brandon Vera is readying for a critical fight with Iran's Amir Aliakbari at ONE 164, and he'll also be paying close attention to the upcoming title bout between Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin.
The Russian knockout artist and ONE interim heavyweight champ is slated to challenge the light heavyweight king at ONE on Prime Video 5. Malykhin is hoping to keep his unbeaten record intact while handing De Ridder his first loss.
Brandon Vera recently spoke with The MMA Superfan regarding his thoughts on the mega-fight. He said:
"That guy is a monster too, he’s got dynamite in his hands so I’m excited to see him go against De Ridder. I’m just worried and him hitting up and De Ridder taking him to the ground. I don’t know how well he does on the ground against De Ridder, you know. That’s the one thing we have to see, we have to find out."
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De Ridder and Malykhin are a combined 10-0 inside the circle, but someone has to lose, which makes this bout so special. Not to mention that it's a champ vs. champ matchup.
Check out Vera's full interview with The MMA Superfan below:
ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong keeps it real with the importance of Brandon Vera's next fight
'The Truth' is coming off back-to-back losses and is currently 45 years old, making his fight with Aliakbari incredibly important.
Chatri Sityodtong recently spoke with CNN Sports Desk regarding the meaning of Vera's match with Aliakbari:
"The haters say Brandon is done, his time in the sunshine is over. Brandon wants to prove otherwise, he's taking on a very tough opponent, a KO artist, a wrestler. And if Brandon can come out shining, he's very much back into the title conversation."
Sityodtong continued:
"So the stakes are very, very high. Of course, if he loses in spectacular fashion, then the question really is, you know, have the best days of Brandon Vera gone by? That's the real question that we want to see right now and Filipino fans are going to be rooting for him. No doubt.”
Make sure to watch Brandon Vera take on Amir Aliakbari in a pivotal heavyweight match at ONE 164 on December 3, live from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
