MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American mixed martial arts (MMA) star Brandon Vera is expecting a difficult fight when he defends his ONE heavyweight championship against Hideki Sekine on Friday at ONE: Age of Domination at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Vera is making the first defense of his belt against the rugged Japanese fighter, who is so far unbeaten in his MMA career with a 7-0 win-loss record.
"Mahirap, matindi 'yung gagong 'yun," Vera said of Sekine during Tuesday's press conference at Vikings. "Malaki 'yung katawan, malaki 'yung ulo."
"But I don't expect him to be successful at the end of the night," Vera added emphatically.
Vera made it clear that he has no intentions of relinquishing his belt, especially as the fight will be held in his home court.
"Parang bahay ko 'to," he said. "It's like my house. Matatalo ka ba sa bahay mo? Hindi pwede. Mamamatay muna ako before I lose in the ring."
"There's no way," he stressed. "I can't let anybody beat me here in the Philippines."
In order to keep the belt, Vera knows he needs to be fast and mobile and try to avoid getting taken down by Sekine, who has won six of his seven fights by stoppage – three of them via submission.
"I'm just gonna wait for his mouth to open," said Vera, who has won his past two fights through first-round knockouts. "Then I can see that he's tired."
Vera will headline a star-studded bout that is filled with Filipino fighters, including Fil-Australian Reece McLaren who will challenge Bibiano Fernandes for the bantamweight belt in the co-main event.
Five members of the famed Team Lakay will also see action in the card.
"It's an honor to be fighting and headlining a show here in the Philippines, especially with all the talent that we have," he said.
"'Yung mga Pilipino, grabe talaga," Vera added. "Everybody's becoming so well-rounded, and so good."
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