By Kevin Estrada
PASAY – We have seen the last bout of Brandon Vera, as he called time to his glorious MMA career.
The inaugural ONE World Heavyweight Champion had left his gloves in the center of the circle, moments after Iran’s Amir Aliakbari stopped him in the very first round at ONE 164 Saturday evening at the MOA Arena.
“Damn, I broke my hand again”, said the Truth to Mitch Chilson, before apologizing to a roaring crowd as he did not get the win he promised to them.
The 45-year-old compiled a stellar record of 16 wins and 10 defeats, with one no contest in a career that began in 2002.
Vera made his name first at the World Extreme Cagefighting in 2005, stopping The Ultimate Fighter participant Mike White in the Heavyweight Grand Prix final.
He then made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut the year after, winning his first four bouts there before enduring a long slump where he only won four of the next eleven bouts, with notable losses to Randy Couture, Jon Jones and Mauricio Rua before he was cut after his 2013 defeat to Ben Rothwell at UFC 164.
In August 2014, Vera signed with ONE Championship and made his debut with a first-round knockout of Igor Subora at Warrior’s Way in December. The following year, he won the inaugural ONE Heavyweight belt after a 26-second knockout of Paul Cheng at Spirit of Champions at the MOA Arena.
He then defended his title twice before he was stopped by Arjan Bhullar last year at ONE: Dangal in Singapore, prior to that, he fell to Aung La N Sang in his attempt at the Burmese’s ONE Light Heavyweight title at ONE 100 in Tokyo in 2019.
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