Brandon Vera and Bibiano Fernandes Retain Title Belts at ONE: Age of Domination | MMAWeekly.com

Hideki Sekine was undefeated going into ONE: Age of Domination in Manila, but the Japanese heavyweight proved to be no match for Brandon Vera. The reigning champion needed just over three minutes to secure a stoppage win and defend his belt for the first time on Friday night (local time).

Sekine began the fight at the MOA Arena by backpedaling, but Vera was extremely patient. The Filipino-American stalked forward and did some devastating damage to his opponent’s nose with a head kick followed by a brutal knee to the face. 

The Japanese jiu-jitsu specialist responded by shooting for a takedown, which Vera easily defended. It can’t have escaped the champion’s notice that by this stage his opponent’s nose was at completely the wrong angle, but he took his time and picked his shots carefully.

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It was a matter of when, not if, Vera found a way to put Sekine away, and a kick to the midsection saw the challenger collapse to the floor. There was still time for a flurry of follow-up punches before the referee saw fit to step in and stop the action.

The finish came at 3:11. Afterward, Vera, who recently moved to Manila and has been awarded his Filipino citizenship, addressed the crowd in Tagalog.  The win takes him to 15-7-0-1 (3-0 with ONE), while Sekine drops to 7-1 (0-1 with ONE), after tasting defeat for the first time.

While the gulf between the caliber of the two fighters in the headlining bout was noticeable, the co-main event could not have been closer. The fans might have been expecting a Fernandes win, but no one could have predicted how close McLaren would come to snatching the belt from the Brazilian.

Fernandes controlled the first two rounds courtesy of takedowns, but couldn’t capitalize with submission attempts or strikes, save for a series of elbows to the shoulder. In the third, McLaren turned the fight on its head with an arcing left hand that sent the Brazilian stumbling backward, nursing an obviously broken nose.

The momentum was with the Australian at this point, but Fernandes finished the round strong with a right elbow that took some of the wind out of McLaren’s sails. The fourth round was comparatively uneventful, but the action intensified towards the tail end of the fight.

With 30 seconds to go in the final round, the two simply stood in the pocket and traded punches and kicks with both looking to leave a lasting impression on the judges. McLaren made a lot of new fans with an impressive performance that was punctuated by some showboating, but it wasn’t enough to win the title.

Two of the three judges awarded the fight to Fernandes, who improves to 20-3 (8-0 with ONE), while one of them voted in favor of McLaren, who drops to 9-4 (1-2 with ONE). The Brazilian reportedly has just one fight left on his contract and after such a close contest a rematch could well be in the works.

There were also wins for Filipinos Mark Striegl and Honorio Banario, who beat Sotir Kichukov and Rajinder Singh Meena, respectively. The local fighters did not have things entirely their own way, though, as Geje Eustaquio and April Osenio were submitted by Toni Tauru and Jenny Huang, respectively.

ONE: AGE OF DOMINATION Official Results

• Brandon Vera defeats Hideki Sekine by TKO (Strikes) at 3:11 minutes of round 1
• Bibiano Fernandes defeats Reece McLaren by Split Decision (SD) after five rounds
• Mark Striegl defeats Sotir Kichukov by Unanimous Decision (UD) after three rounds
• Toni Tauru defeats Geje Eustaquio by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:55 minutes of round 1
• Honorio Banario defeats Rajinder Singh Meena by Submission (Armbar) at 4:04 minutes of round 1
• Leandro Ataides defeats Mohamed Ali by Knockout at 4:54 minutes of round 2
• Edward Kelly defeats Sunoto by TKO (Strikes) at 2:14 minutes of round 3
• Danny Kingad defeats Eugene Toquero by Submission (Armbar) at 4:26 minutes of round 1
• Jenny Huang defeats April Osenio by Submission (Gogoplata) at 4:28 minutes of round 2
• Sim Bunsrun defeats Liu Peng Shuai by Unanimous Decision (UD) after three rounds
• Xie Bin defeats Mario Satya Wirawan by Unanimous Decision (UD) after three rounds