After months of sniping at each other on social media, it seems Brandon Vera and Chi Lewis Parry will finally get to throw down this December in a bout which looks to be for the inaugural ONE Championship heavyweight title.
Parry (6-0-0-1) is undefeated in MMA and coming off two fights against Alain Ngalani under the ONE banner. The first ended in a no contest, but the former basketball player won the rematch by TKO. Vera (13-7-0-1) is also coming off a first round stoppage win, as the UFC veteran finished Igor Subora in his promotional debut.
Both Parry (here) and Vera (here) have openly discussed being offered bout agreements with the Filipino-American going as far as to video himself putting pen to paper. The Englishman also confirmed he has received an offer to fight and strongly indicated he would be signing the contract.
ONE Championship currently has six cards booked between now and the end of the year starting in Shanghai on September 1st. After that, the organization heads to Jakarta on September 27th, Kuala Lumpur on October 9th, Macau on November 7th, Singapore on November 13th, and Manila on December 11th.
The Shanghai card is full but in theory, this heavyweight fight could take place at any of these events. However in practice, it is almost certain to headline ONE: "Spirit of Champions" at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on the December date, because Vera has a huge fan following in the Philippines.
Stay tuned.