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At ONE 164, Amir Aliakbari has a huge test ahead of him. On December 3, the decorated Iranian wrestler will take on former heavyweight champion Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera.
When Aliakbari made his debut in ONE Championship in 2021, he started to ask for a fight with Vera, who was the heavyweight world champion at the time. Now, he finally has what he wished for, but in much different circumstances compared to a year ago.
Whilst the 2010 wrestling world championship gold medalist has recently rebounded from back-to-back knockout losses, his opponent comes into the fight having lost his last two by way of TKO.
As the fight gets closer, ONE Championship posted a video on instagram of Amir Aliakbari preparing for his next fight by working on his strength:
“Amir Aliakbari collides with Brandon Vera at ONE 164 on December 3! 💪 @amiraliakbari60”
Aliakbari will need more than just his strength if he is to beat ‘The Truth’ at ONE 164. The former champion will have the support of his home fans in Manila and fighting in the Philippines has been massively important to his success.
Brandon Vera produced a run of four straight first-round finishes in Manila, which saw him become world champion and defend his title twice.
Brandon Vera believes Amir Aliakbari’s losses have "humbled him"
Former world champion Brandon Vera believes that Amir Aliakbari was humbled in his career after his first two fights inside the circle.
On December 3 at ONE 164, ‘The Truth’ will return to the circle for the first time in over 18 months. After losing back-to-back fights, Vera finds himself in a must-win fight against a dangerous opponent in the decorated Iranian wrestler.
In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Vera spoke about the two consecutive KO losses that Aliakbari faced under the ONE Championship banner:
“You literally know, you don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen. I think since that it has happened to him, he’s calmed down so much, his fans have calmed down so much. He’s humbled himself. Even against his last match with Cerilli he didn’t look confident that he was gonna win.”
With a lot of potential for the 34-year-old Grecco-Roman world champion, things didn’t go Amir Aliakbari’s way at first inside the circle. The Iranian lost to Kang Ji Won at ONE: Fists of Fury II and suffered a similar fate six months later when he took on Anatoly Malykhin.
Aliakbari turned his fortunes around in his last fight, stopping Mauro Cerilli at ONE on Prime Video 1. He now has the chance to completely turn the tables with a win over a legend like Brandon Vera on his opponent's home turf.
