ONE Championship: Brandon Vera warns ‘disrespectful’ Amir Aliakbari ‘make sure you’re ready’ after trash talk
- ONE heavyweight champ Vera tells Aliakbari ‘I’m not playing games … don’t let your fans be the reason you catch a whooping’
- ‘You talk about smashing faces? All right. Welcome to ONE. Let’s see how it goes,’ says the Filipino
Brandon Vera has heard all the talk coming from ONE Championship’s new heavyweight recruits, and the champ has a clear message for them: bring it on.
Asian martial arts organisation ONE recently bolstered its heavyweight ranks with Dominance MMA clients Amir Aliakbari, a former star in Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation, and 13-time Brazilian jiu-jiutsu world champ Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.
Another BJJ legend, the American Tom DeBlass (9-2), also ended his retirement from MMA to join ONE. But it is Iranian icon Aliakbari (10-1) who has particularly piqued the interest of Vera (15-7, one no contest), after repeated call-outs and trash talk.
“Oh man, I absolutely love it,” the 42-year-old Filipino told SCMP MMA. “I think ONE is doing an amazing job bringing in this talent from around the world. These guys are world class athletes coming into the fold, into our family, and they’re all gunning for my title. I’m very excited there’s new blood coming in. But along with that being said, some of these guys have been pretty disrespectful.
“You need to remember there are some heavyweights here at ONE championship and this is a different game. We don’t play round by round here – you need to win the entire match that night.
“So before you start running your mouth you better make sure you get past your first event at ONE. Welcome to the club, welcome to the fold, make sure you stay on top of what you’re supposed to do if you wanna get here where I’m at.”