Former heavyweight champion Brandon Vera will re-enter the ONE Championship cage on Dec. 3 for his first fight in over a year, facing Amir Aliakbari in the main card portion of ONE 164 in Manila, Philippines, the company announced.
ONE 164 will be headlined by champion Joshua Pacio putting his strawweight title on the line against UFC, Bellator and RIZIN veteran Jarred Brooks.
Vera (16-9) hasn’t won a bout since November 2018, when he finished Mauro Cerilli in just 64 seconds to retain the heavyweight belt. “The Truth” went 4-0 in the company before losing in title bouts to Aung La N Sang and Arjan Bhullar in 2019 and 2021.
Aliakbari (11-3) finished Cerilli this past August to score his first ONE victory after dropping his initial bouts opposite Ji Won Kang and Anatoly Malykhin. The Iranian wrestler, banned for life by the International Wrestling Federation after multiple sanctions in 2013, was briefly linked to a UFC deal in 2019 but released shortly after due to his doping history.
Aliakbari scored wins over the likes of Heath Herring and future Bellator interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky early in his career inside the RIZIN ring before joining ONE.
Check the complete ONE 164 below.
Main card
Joshua Pacio vs. Jarred Brooks
Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs. Panpayak Jitmuangnon
Brandon Vera vs. Amir Aliakbari
Geje Eustaquio vs. Hu Yong
Jeremy Pacatiw vs. Tial Thang
Undercard
Tagir Khalilov vs. Chorfah Tor.Santiennoi
Philippines Winner vs. Drex Zamboanga
Lara Fernandez vs. Dangkongfah Banchamek
Jasur Mirzamukhamedov vs. Oumar Kane
Jenelyn Olsim vs. Meng Bo