Brandon Vera claims HW title in 26 seconds
As much of the arena mourned the untimely death of Yang Jian Bing, ONE Championship got a brief distraction as Brandon Vera became the new heavyweight champion.
Filipino-American fighter Brandon Vera made history as the first mixed martial arts competitor to win the ONE Championship heavyweight title by knocking out Paul Cheng in the main event of the Spirit of Champions card on Friday, December 11 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Just hours after the organization announced Bing had died following his weight-cutting efforts for the event, Vera (14-7) unloaded a head kick and punches to stop Paul Cheng for the inaugural belt in today’s ONE Championship 35: Spirit of Champions headliner.
The event took place in the Philippines at Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena. It streamed as an online pay-per-view in North America.
Vera fought replacement Cheng after original opponent Chi Lewis Parry had a public falling-out with the promotion just days before the event. The former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight wasted little time in putting away Cheng with the violent first-round attack.
Vera, fighting for the first time in 2015 after making his debut with the promotion in 2014, took advantage of his opponent’s aggression and countered him with the first-round flurry. The stoppage came in just 26 seconds.
