Vera defends ONE title, outclasses Sekine in first round

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Brandon Vera made quick work of an overmatched Hideki Sekine to retain his heavyweight title in the main event of ONE: Age of Domination late Friday night before a sizeable crowd at Mall of Asia Arena.

Vera landed a crushing knee to the face then delivered a whipping body kick before going for the ground and pound that led to the stoppage at the 3:11 mark of the opening round.

“I know his strength. He wants to take me on the ground,” said Vera. “He’s super strong. But no one can take my kicks.”

It was Vera’s first title defense and it ended the way his last two fights concluded with his opponents not getting past the first round. Vera is now 3-0 since joining ONE after stopping Paul Cheng to claim the inaugural heavyweight belt last year and Igor Subora in 2014 inside the opening round.

Sekine, who has nothing left in the tank at 43, entered the cage with flair, flexing arms while wearing a red mask.

But as far as the fight went, the Japanese challenger had little to show and had no chance in winning just by looking at the noticeable height disparity alone.

The 39-year-old Vera walked out of the cage as if he had just finished a light workout.

In the co-featured bout, Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes continued his reign in the bantamweight division after edging Fil-Australian Reece McLaren by split decision.

Fernandes overcame a broken nose he sustained from a punch in the second round.

The 36-year-old Fernandes improved to 20-3, including 12 straight wins and five consecutive successful title defenses.