MANILA – Brandon Vera failed to hang on to ONE heavyweight championship following a second-round technical knockout defeat to Arjan Singh Bhullar in ONE: Dangal on Saturday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Filipino-American mixed martial arts fighter – the owner of the ONE heavyweight belt for five years – was outclassed and outhustled by the Indian fighter in an encounter that was one year in the making.
Bhullar set the tempo of the match by connecting jabs while Vera had his occasional jabs and leg kicks. The Indian scored a takedown three minutes into the fight but did nothing on the mat.
During the second round, Bhullar stunned Vera with a hard right hand, and with the Filipino-American fighter fading, the Indian went for the kill by going for a takedown before unleashing multiple punches to the head which forced the referee to halt the fight.
“This is the first time in my career that I was gassed in the first round. I’m in shape, we’ve been training, and we were working our ass off with the best people in the world,” Vera said after the match. “I don’t know, this is new for me.”
“I hurt my ribs during camp and he caught me with a good one but that is all part of the gig. That’s what we do and it’s no excuse… I’m annoyed and disappointed. I don’t have that strap and I’m not the world champ,” he added.
It was the second consecutive defeat for the 43-year-old Vera, who also failed in his quest to dethrone Aung La N Sang as the ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion two years ago.
The loss also ended Vera’s undefeated streak in the weight division with a 16-9 (1 NC) record while the 35-year-old Bhullar notched his second consecutive win following his unanimous decision victory over Cerilli two years ago. He now has an impressive 11-1 record./PN
