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Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida was very impressed with Amir Aliakbari’s first-round destruction of former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera at ONE 164.
Aliakbari entered ONE Championship in 2021 with a fairly rough start, dropping his first two turns inside the circle against Kang Ji Won and Anatoly Malykhin. The Iranian wrestling world champion was able to turn things around in 2022, earning his first win under the ONE banner by knocking out Mauro Cerilli at ONE on Prime Video 1. Aliakbari turned heads in his most recent outing, smashing heavyweight icon Brandon Vera in the opening round. Vera announced his retirement immediately following the bout.
In an interview with ONE Championship, the 17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Marcus Almeida, was complimentary of Aliakbari’s performance.
“It was a very good victory for Amir Aliakbari. Brandon Vera's last fight had been against Arjan, when he ended up losing the belt. But that was a long time ago, and Amir has been competing at a better pace. Despite having won his first victory in the organization in the fight before this one, he had two fights last year.”
‘Buchecha’ continued, saying:
“This was his second victory in the organization, so now his record has improved. Amir Aliakbari fought well, landed a good takedown, and worked his ground-and-pound well. It was a very technical fight. It was very good to watch and also to study.”
Amir Aliakbari believes he is the best wrestler in all of ONE Championship
When it comes to wrestling, the Iranian monster believes there is nobody better. The UWW Greco-Roman wrestling world champion has been nothing short of brilliant in his last two outings after a tumultuous start to his ONE Championship career. Following his victory at ONE 164, Aliakbari was more than confident about his own wrestling skills at the post-fight press event.
“No one can match my wrestling. I have the best wrestling in this organization and possibly any organization. Ever since my head coach came back, they’ve been pressing my wrestling and my roots. That’s what’s going to happen from here on out.”
With his win over Brandon Vera, Aliakbari could be staring down the barrel of a heavyweight title opportunity. At the very least, Aliakbari will likely see a big step up in competition in what could very well be a world title eliminator. Though no official announcements have been made, fans appear to be rallying around a potential match between Amir Aliakbari and Marcus Almeida.
Who would you like to see Amir Aliakbari face when he returns to the circle in 2023?
