ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera is willing to risk life to defend his turf
After becoming the first-ever ONE Heavyweight World Champion a year ago, Brandon “The Truth” Vera (14-7) is dead set on making his reign a dominant one. Standing in his way though is seasoned Japanese grappler Hideki “Shrek” Sekine (7-0).
Even if Sekine last fought two years ago, the 43-year-old kept active in various international grappling competitions. The Filipino-American champion is wary of this but is willing to go all out for flag and country.
“He’s been undefeated in seven years pero sa Pilipinas ‘to,” Vera said Tuesday afternoon during ONE Age of Domination’s press conference at Vikings in Pasay City. “Sa akin ‘to. I’m expecting a hard fight, expecting shots to be traded, and expecting him to slip and get caught, expecting him push the pace and try to take me down, and I don’t expect him to be successful at that.
“I need to be fast, mobile, keep his hands off of me so he can’t wrestle with me, and I’m just going to wait for his mouth to open so I can see that he’s tired.”
During his one year layoff, not only did Vera keep his brand up but also pushed himself in the gym, working hard on his ground game. He is willing to showcase his growth on the ground come Friday evening.
“Everybody thinks of me as a stand-up fighter. But you need to understand that when I first moved to San Diego, I trained with Dean Lister. On top of that, I trained with Andre Galvao, the best jiu jitsu guy in the world right now. I’m a stand-up fighter, but I’m very well prepared to be on the ground with anybody,” the 39-year-old said.
“Just so you guys know, I’m playing possum about my jiu jitsu: ‘I don’t want you to take me down but I wish you would take me down.’ I’m going to show you things that people haven’t seen yet, so I’m not worried. I’m looking forward to it. And you have to remember: it’s not jiu jitsu; I can punch you in the face when you’re trying to do something.”
For Vera, he wants nothing more than to win another one in front of his countrymen.
“Parang bahay ko ‘to. Matatalo ka ba sa bahay mo? Hindi pwede. Mamamatay muna ako bago before I lose in the ring.
“I can’t let somebody beat me here in the Philippines,” he stressed.
And he plans on making Age of Domination as the start of his dominant reign.
