Brandon Vera – “I’m never cutting weight again”
Former ONE Championship heavyweight champion Brandon Vera has not competed since May 2021 where he lost his coveted title to now current champion Arjan Bhullar.
While the former champion could potentially make the weight cut down to light heavyweight (where he used to compete while in the UFC and once attempted to challenge for the title with ONE), Vera just doesn’t want to put the strain on his body.
Vera’s decision was made to light after ONE’s two-division champion Reinier de Ridder attempted to lure him down a weight class. De Ridder, holder of the promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles, called Vera out for the challenge, which he respectfully declined.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Vera said he’s not doing any weight cuts just to fight de Ridder and it’s the two-division king who should meet him in his preferred division.
“I’m never cutting weight again. But de Ridder, you’re more than welcome to meet me at whatever weight I’m at that I’m fighting. You’re more than welcome de Ridder, I would love to absolutely go to war with you. But me cutting weight, no way.”
Vera currently does not have a fight scheduled. De Ridder will defend his light heavyweight title against Vitaly Bigdash at ONE: 159 on July 22.
ONE 159 fight card:
Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash – 205 lbs
Janet Todd vs. Lara Fernandez – 115 lbs
Bokang Masunyane vs. Hiroba Minowa – 125 lbs
M. PK Saenchai vs. Vladimir Kuzmin – 145 lbs
Peimian Zhang vs. Aslanbek Zikreev – 125 lbs
Zhaxi Zelang vs. Danial Williams – 125 lbs
Sinsamut Klinmee vs. Islam Murtazaev – 170 lbs
Ariel Sexton vs. Marat Gafurov – 170 lbs
Jessa Khan vs. Amanda Alequin – 115 lbs
Tae Ho Jin vs. Valmir da Silva – 185 lbs
M. Jamal Abdul-Latif vs. Anderson Silva – 265 lbs
Lea Bivins vs. Zeba Bano – 115 lbs
