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ONE CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong recently spoke about the long-awaited return of Brandon Vera to the ONE Championship circle. Sityodtong sat down with CNN Sports Desk to talk about the Filipino-American former ONE heavyweight world champion's role in Philippine MMA.
Ahead of Vera's fight against Iranian powerhouse Amir Aliakbari at ONE 164, Sityodtong talked about how massive it would be for 'The Truth' to perform again in front of his home crowd:
"It's massive. You know, Brandon undoubtedly has the hearts and minds of every Filipino fan in the whole entire country and around the world, actually. He loves the Philippines. He represents the Philippines in such an incredible, honorable way."
Although Vera is a native of Norfolk, Virginia, he embraced his Filipino roots and moved to his home country a few years ago, where he was embraced as an icon and a local hero. 'The Truth' embraced Filipino culture so much that he's been acting in TV shows and movies in the country. It is, however, his fighting career that resonates the most with his people. Come December 3, Brandon Vera will shine under bright lights with the entire nation of the Philippines chanting his name.
Watch the interview here:
Brandon Vera "cannot wait" to perform in front of his people in Manila, Philippines
In an interview with CNN Sports Desk, Brandon Vera expressed his deep nostalgic feelings for ONE 163. Of the six bouts he’s had in ONE, 'The Truth' has fought four times in Manila, with all of them ending by way of a first-round knockout.
“I'm more than ecstatic to be coming back to Manila. This is reminiscent of my feelings from when ONE Championship first brought me out to Manila, and we held the first show at MOA [Mall of Asia] that I was part of. I am beyond excited, beyond ecstatic, I cannot wait for this event.”
The 45-year-old made his ONE debut at ONE: Warrior’s Way eight years ago in December 2014. He knocked out Ukraine’s Igor Subora in the first round.
He then sent Paul Cheng into another dimension in his second fight in the promotion to become the first-ever ONE heavyweight world champion at ONE: Spirit of Champions the following year. ‘The Truth’ has had two consecutive successful defenses of his world title, knocking out Hideki Sekine and Mauro Cerrili.
Watch his interview here:
