After the ONE Championship Press Conference last Tuesday, a girl approached Brandon Vera and asked the 43-year old mixed martial arts fighter to give a sample of his strength.
To everyone’s pleasant surprise, Vera effortlessly hoisted the girl, a Tempo photographer, on his right arm and then flexed his left biceps, triggering a loud cheer at the Vikings Venue in Pasay.
Vera, the ONE Heavyweight title holder, is ready to display some more muscles today when he takes on a Japanese challenger.
Despite a 12-7-0 record, Vera vowed not to allow Hideke Sekine get the better of him.
“Anong klaseng laban yung ine-expect ko? Mahirap, matindi yung taong yon, malaki yung katawan, malaki yung ulo, he’s been undefeated for seven years; in jiu-jitsu, he’s been undefeated in his MMA career. Iniisip ko talaga na gusto i-uwi ‘to (belt). Hindi puwede, dito sa Pilipinas ‘to. Sa akin ‘to. I’m expecting a hard fight, I’m expecting shots to be traded, I’m expecting him to slip and get caught, I’m expecting him to push the pace and try to take me down, and I don’t expect him to be successful at the end of the night.”
With brimming confidence, Vera added: “There’s no way I can let anybody beat me here in the Philippines.”
Vera outlined his analysis of Sekine.
“Key points are I need to be fast, I need to be mobile, I need to keep his hands off me so he can’t wrestle with me, and I’m just gonna wait for his mouth to open, so I can see that he’s tired.”