Brandon Vera became the new king of the heavyweight division, flooring Paul Cheng in just 26 seconds to become the first ONE FC heavyweight champion in the main event of ONE FC: Spirit of Champions Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Like a man on a mission, the Filipino slugger went on the prowl and unleashed a flurry of punches on the Chinese contender, sending him to the floor and giving the home crowd something to cheer about after defeats from Ana Julaton and Mark Streigl earlier in the night.
The 38-year-old Vera’s sensational show of force followed up his technical knockout win over Igor Subora last year and improved his record to 14-7 (1 NC).
Vera also snapped Cheng’s four-fight winning run and dropped him to 5-2.
The 37-year-old Cheng was a late replacement to Vera’s original opponent, Chi Lewis Parry, whose name was scratched off the cards at the last minute.