PASAY CITY, Philippines — Brandon Vera made short work of Japanese challenger Sekine Hideki to retain his heavyweight championship at the ONE: Age of Domination mixed martial arts event at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday.
Vera proved too much for the wide-bodied but shorter Hideki, who tried to close the distance with the taller Vera.
"Alam ko yung plano niya, gusto nyang magjiu-jitsu," Vera said. "Alam ko talaga ang strength nya, malaki ang katawan and he wants to be on the ground."
In one of Hideki's takedown attempts, he got caught with a knee that bent his nose sideways.
The end began for Hideki when Vera connected with a kick to the liver. This sent the Japanese challenger staggering to the cage, where he was clipped with several more hits. The referee halted the bout 3:11 into the first round.
"Walang tao sa buong mundo na kayang kainin ang sipa ko," Vera said. "That's the only thing I'd be cocky about, my kicks."
(Nobody in this world can take my kicks.)
It was Vera's first defense of the title he won last year, a knockout win over Taiwan’s Paul Cheng in just 26 seconds.
He now boasts a 15-7-1 record, while dealing Hideki his first loss in eight matches.
In the co-main event, Reece McLaren put up a gallant stand in a split-decision loss to defending bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes.
McLaren, who has Filipino and Australian roots, gave Fernandes reason to worry in the third when he rocked the Brazilian with a left straight to the face. The hit broke Fernandes' nose, which threw the champion off in the next two rounds.
But Fernandes held on, engaging McLaren in a striking match to score enough points and secure victory.
At first, it looked like McLaren was winning the bout, pulling off flashy moves including several switch kicks and superman punches. At times, he would wag his tongue in an attempt to get in Fernandes' head.
But the judges weren't swayed and Fernandes got the win.
Meanwhile, Mark "Mugen" Streigl made a successful comeback by dominating Bulgaria's Sotir Kichukov to post a unanimous decision win.
Streigl proved to be the better grappler, gaining the upper hand whenever the fight went to the mat.
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