Brandon Vera will be back in action at ONE 164. The former heavyweight champion has been booked to face Amir Aliakbari at the MOA Arena on December 3rd.
Vera (16-9-0-1) was last seen losing to Arjan Bhullar at ONE: ‘Dangal’ last year. The 45 year old has not won a fight since 2018 and has been handed another tough assignment here.
Aliakbari (11-3) declared he was going to walk though the promotion’s heavyweight division but lost his first two ONE Championship bouts by first round KO. The Iranian is coming off a win over Mauro Cerilli at ONE on Prime Video 1.
Amir Aliakbari 🇮🇷 kicks off the main card with a DOMINANT TKO win!#ONEonPrimeVideo1 | #ONEChampionship
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch live on @PrimeVideo 👉 https://t.co/CgbPo9u9AC
🌍 Watch live on PPV 👉 https://t.co/8MeKhRMtjy pic.twitter.com/MVER9xjyM3— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 27, 2022
Grudge match
As previously announced the event will be headlined by the much discussed, once postponed strawweight title bout between Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks. The match was supposed to headline ONE 158 in June but the American pulled out due to an undisclosed injury.
Pacio is the two time ONE Championship strawweight champion, he won the title for the second time in 2019 and has made three successful defences. Meanwhile Brooks has been facing some of the best strawweights and flyweights on the planet for the past six years.
He is well travelled having fought for Pancrase, the UFC, Rizin and Bellator before signing with ONE Championship. Brooks earned his title shot by beating three opponents in quick succession and has been doing a lot of trash talking which makes this a real grudge match:
He talked the talk and walked the walk 😤 Next, Jarred Brooks wants to challenge Joshua Pacio for the ONE Strawweight World Title! Who do you think would win? @The_monkeygod #ONEOnlyTheBrave #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/KoWAnkq023
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 29, 2022
Local favourites
Four more fights have been confirmed for ONE 164 and they all feature Filipino fighters. The event is set for the MOA Arena in Manila on December 3rd.
At flyweight #4 ranked Danny Kingad has been matched with Gurdarshan Mangat. The latter has lost two out of his last three while the former is coming off back to back wins.
Also in the flyweight division former champion Geje Eustaquio returns after a two year absence to take on Hu Yong. The Filipino is a ONE Championship veteran and has been on the roster since 2012.
In the bantamweight division Jeremy Pacatiw will be looking to bounce back from the first loss of his ONE Championship career. He was stopped by a knee to the body from Fabricio Andrade and has been matched with Tial Thang here
Meanwhile Jenelyn Olsim faces Meng Bo in a a battle between two fighter who previously competed at atomweight. This will be the promotion’s first event in Manila since 2019 and ONE on Prime Video 5 will take place in the same venue earlier in the day.
ONE 164, Manila, December 3rd
Joshua Pacio (c) vs. Jarred Brooks (For strawweight title)
Danny Kingad vs. Gurdarshan Mangat (Flyweight)
Geje Eustaquio vs.Hu Yong (Flyweight)
Jeremy Pacatiw vs. Tial Thang (Bantamweight)
Jenelyn Olsim vs. Meng Bo (Strawweight)
Brandon Vera vs. Amir Aliakbari (Heavyweight)
