Brandon Vera will make the third defence of his heavyweight title at ONE: ‘Code of Honor’ on May 29th. The Fil-Am fighter will face fellow UFC veteran Arjan Bhullar at the MOA Arena in Manila.
Vera (16-8-0-1) suffered the first defeat of his post UFC career at ONE: ‘Century’ last October. He was stopped by Aung La Nsang in the second round of their light heavyweight title fight.
However he remains the heavyweight champion. Vera won the belt by beating Paul Cheng in 2015 and has successfully defended it against both Mauro Cerilli and Hideki Sekine.
Bhullar (10-1) was also in action at ONE: ‘Century’. He faced former title challenger Cerilli on his promotional debut and won the fight by unanimous decision, earning an immediate title shot.
Vera fought 16 times for the UFC. He won eight of those bouts and lost seven with one declared a ‘no contest’ while facing the likes of Randy Couture, Jon Jones, Mauricio Rua, Fabricio Werdum, Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir.
Bhullar does not have quite as many big names on his resume but he is nine years younger than Vera. The Canadian fought three times for the UFC, winning two of those bouts.
Last night Vera was cageside at ONE: ‘Fire & Fury’ at the MOA Arena. In the main event Joshua Pacio successfully defended his strawweight title, beating Alex Silva by split decision.
ONE: ‘Code of Honor’ will be the second event the promotion has held at the MOA Arena this year. There will also be several ONE Hero Series Philippines fight cards in 2020.
ONE: ‘Code of Honor’, Manila, May 29th
Brandon Vera (c) vs. Arjan Bhullar (For heavyweight title)
