ONE Championship has announced the main and co-main event for ONE: Conquest of Champions on November 23.
Live from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the show will be topped by a heavyweight title contest. Reigning champion Brandon Vera finally returns to defend his title against Mauro Cerilli. In the co-main event, former champion Eduard Folayang takes on Amir Khan for the newly vacated ONE Lightweight Championship.
Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated:
“The Philippines is a country that is extremely passionate about sports, especially martial arts. We have some of the greatest martial artists in Asia that call the Philippines home. One of those athletes is our ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera. Brandon has been itching to get back in action to defend his heavyweight title for some time now, and I am thrilled to announce that he will be returning at ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS.”
“Brandon will have a very tough challenger in front of him in the form of Mauro Cerilli. The two provide an explosive matchup and a good contrast of styles. In addition, we’ve already announced it but I am super excited for the co-main event bout between Eduard Folayang and Amir Khan for the vacant ONE Lightweight World Championship. It’s going to be an electric evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.”
“The Truth” Brandon Vera is a veteran fighter with a pro record of 15-7 with 1 No Contest. After joining the ONE organization in 2014, the Filipino-American was quick to win the ONE Heavyweight Championship, doing so in his second fight with the promotion.
He needed just 26-seconds to stop Albert Cheng in December of 2015 to win the vacant strap. In his sole title defense taking place in December of 2016, Vera was able to finish Hideki Sekine in the first-round. “The Truth” has not competed since. Until now, of course, and it’s a dangerous Italian waiting in the wings.
Mauro Cerilli – “The Hammer” – fights out of Italy and possesses a stellar record of 12-2. His current run includes five-straight wins with four knockouts. In late 2017, the Italian captured the Cage Warriors Heavyweight Championship by stopping Nills Van Noord. Earlier this year, Cerilli gained worldwide recognition throughout the MMA community when he defended his title with a staggering 15-second knockout.
He truly earned his nickname, as “The Hammer” is quite arguably the best heavyweight in Eastern Europe, and certainly the best heavyweight out of Italy.
ONE: Conquest of Champions topped by Brandon Vera, Eduard Folayang
With a record of 20-6, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang is a veteran of the Philippine Wushu Team, having won eleven medals – three gold – at the SEA Games. Having been with ONE since their debut show in 2011, the Team Lakay veteran had some wars in his first few years with the company. Eventually, back in 2016, Folayang was awarded a title shot against Shinya Aoki after two-straight wins in that same year. Prior to this, Folayang had been out of action since 2014.
Folayang shocked the world by finishing Shinya Aoki to become the new champion. He followed this up with one successful title defense before losing it to Martin Nguyen in late 2017. Since this loss, he has won two-straight. And, very recently, Nguyen vacated the lightweight title. This clears the path as “Landslide” will now compete for the vacant ONE Lightweight Championship against a Singaporean muay thai champion.
Amir Khan has competed fourteen times as a pro, with the past thirteen of those fights taking place inside of ONE Championship. He has amassed a record of 11-3, with 10 finishes. Khan had an impressive six-fight win streak snapped earlier this year courtesy of Timofey Nasyukhin.
Since then, however, Khan has been on a roll. Winning two-straight, stopping Sung Jong Lee in an absolute war before shocking the world by submitting former featherweight titleholder Honorio Banario. Now he faces his toughest test to date in Folayang.
