One Championship: Aung La N Sang says Brandon Vera ‘is not my enemy’ as they hug it out
- Light heavyweight champion and heavyweight king will slug it out in Tokyo main event but build-up all about respect
- ‘I am Mr Aung La’s friend now, after our match, and forever more,’ says ‘The Truth’
Brandon Vera and Aung La N Sang will throw hands in the One Championship circle in the main event of Sunday’s blockbuster One: Century show in Tokyo. But just a few days before they were sharing a hug.
The two men had embraced on stage at Thursday’s pre-event press conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel, after “The Burmese Python” stopped in the middle of responding to a question to wish “The Truth” a happy birthday.
The One heavyweight champion turned 42 on Thursday, and spent a good chunk of his evening gushing about his respect for the light heavyweight champion, whose belt he will try to snatch this weekend.
“We’re cut from the same cloth, he has my full respect and attention,” Vera said. “This bout means more to me than anything I’ve ever done in my martial arts career so far.
“This entire camp, I’ve only taken five days off the entire time. Coaches, athletes, you know that sounds crazy but I need you to understand how much I respect this bout, and this man. Four of those days I was travelling, one of those days was the first day I got to Japan.
“Mr Aung La, thank you for taking this bout, I promise you, I waited as long as I could to see if somebody else would take the title, but you just kept beating everybody.”
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For N Sang, who recalled watching Vera fight in the UFC 10 years ago on television while he was at college in the US, the respect is mutual.
“We’ve been former teammates,” he said. “We are just doing our jobs to take care of our families. Mr Brandon Vera’s not my enemy, we’re just here to showcase our martial arts.”
Vera said: “I promise I am Mr Aung La N Sang’s friend now, after our match, and forever more.”
