Brandon Vera Set To Defend The ONE Heavyweight World Title In Manila

Brandon “The Truth” Vera‘s return to the cage is official.

The ONE Heavyweight World Champion is set to defend his title against Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli in the main event of ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS, which emanates from the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines on Friday, 23 November.

Vera has inspired martial arts fans ever since he joined the promotion in 2014.

He became the inaugural ONE Heavyweight World Champion thanks to a stunning 26-second knockout victory over Paul Cheng at ONE: SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONS in December 2015.

The 40-year-old Filipino’s last appearance in the cage came in December 2016, when he defended the belt in front of his home crowd at ONE: AGE OF DOMINATION. He knocked out Japan’s Hideki Sekine in the first round.

Cerilli hails from Italy and is the Cage Warriors Heavyweight Champion.

The 35-year-old was impressive at the start of his career because of his submission skills, but he has become known as a knockout artist in recent years.

He has won four of his last five bouts by KO or TKO thanks to his knee strikes and heavy hands, including three in the opening stanza.

The Gloria Fight Center representative has built a reputation of rising to the occasion after his wins in the European organization. He captured the belt with a dominant display of first-round ground and pound, and then made a successful first defense of his crown with a 15-second stoppage in March.

Cerilli will make his ONE Championship debut in Manila.

If Vera overcomes “The Hammer” on 23 November, he says he would like to drop down a division and face Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang for the ONE Light Heavyweight World Title.