By Jun Ray Navarres
Filipino-American veteran fighter Brandon Vera failed to defend his ONE Heavyweight belt after getting technical knocked out by Arjan Bhullar in the main event of ONE:DANGAL, Saturday night.
After a heavy pounding by Bhullar with no response from “The Truth”, referee Justin Brown called the night over with 31 seconds left on the second round.
Both fighters were wary of each other’s strength causing a slow start to the fight but Bhullar has different plans.
The 34-year-old Indian fighter dominated the fight thereafter, standing toe-to-toe with the champion, landing solid shots against the striking master Vera.
Bhullar’s high guard caused problems to Vera who was unable to get a hit on the Indian fighter.
A solid right to the head followed by an uppercut and a body blow hurt Vera which then led to a successful takedown by Bhullar.
The Indian wrestling champion mercilessly pounded Vera to capture the heavyweight belt.
With the win, Bhullar becomes the first-ever Indian mix martial arts world champion.
Bhullar also improved his record to 11-1 following the unanimous decision win against Mauro Cerilli in his ONE debut late in 2019.
Meanwhile Vera succumbed to his second straight loss after failing to snatch the ONE Light Heavyweight throne from Aung La N Sang last October 2019.
Follow the writer on Twitter: @burnsports
