Barandon “The Truth” Vera stayed undefeated in the Philippines via a first-round knockout to defend his ONE Heavyweight title, while Eduard “Landslide” Folayang won by unanimous decision to win the ONE Lightweight title at the ONE: Conquest of Champions at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay Friday night.
No one expected even Vera himself, that his fight will last only one minute and four seconds after the Italian challenger Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli came charging ahead, leaving him wide open to Vera’s counter left hook, which dropped him on the canvas prompting referee Olivier Coste to stop the fight.
“Was I expecting it to be that soon? No. No way,” Vera said.
In his victory speech, Vera praised his fellow Filipino fighters, who won a total of five titles in the slugfest.
“Ito (showing his ONE Heavyweight belt), kayang kaya natin dito sa bansa natin. Suportahan niyo mixed martial artist niyo. Kolektahin natin lahat ng mga belt,” Vera added.
Vera promised he will no longer leave the cage for more than two years again as he is planning for his next mega fight in Japan in October next year.
“I promise, I will never be away that long again. I’ve asked to fight again in October next year in Japan and I’ve asked to fight whoever is holding the belt in the light heavyweight title,” Vera said.
In the lightweight category, Folayang avenged his loss last year by outclassing the Singaporean Amir Khan in the entire fight.
“May kasabihan dito sa Pilipinas na kalabaw lang tumatanda. Hindi naman ako bumabagal kanina,” Folayang said.
He remained aggressive throughout the fight throwing punches and kicks that gave Khan a cut on the lower right eye and bloodied his nose.
In the third round, however, Khan retaliated by aggressively throwing high left kicks that that rattled the Filipino.
Knowing his advantage in the early rounds, Folayang then shifted his strategy in the final rounds by maintaining a safe distance against Khan to avoid his deadly high left kicks.
“Being flexible in martial arts is a big advantage,” Folayang said.
Official results for ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS
ONE Heavyweight World Championship bout: Brandon Vera defeats Mauro Cerilli by Knockout (KO) at 1:04 minutes of round 1
ONE Lightweight World Championship bout: Eduard Folayang defeats Amir Khan by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 5 rounds
Catch Weight bout (79.0kgs): Honorio Banario defeats Rahul Raju by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight bout: Saemapetch Fairtex defeats Alaverdi Ramazanov by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Welterweight bout: James Nakashima defeats Raimond Magomedaliev by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
ONE Super Series Kickboxing Bantamweight bout: Hiroaki Suzuki defeats Deividas Danyla by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
ONE Super Series Kickboxing Catch Weight bout (73.0kgs): Samy Sana defeats Armen Petrosyan by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Heavyweight bout: Alexandre Machado defeats Hideki Sekine by TKO at 1:44 minutes of round 2
ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight bout: Han Zi Hao defeats Azwan Che Wil by TKO (Referee Stoppage) at 2:52 minutes of round 1
Strawweight bout: Jeremy Miado defeats Peng Xue Wen by TKO (Strikes) at 0:53 minutes of round 2
Flyweight bout: Akihiro Fujisawa defeats Rockie Bactol by TKO (Strikes) at 4:40 minutes of round 3
Flyweight bout: Rudy Agustian defeats Asraful Islam by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
