Prior to the success that he is currently enjoying, Brandon Vera fought under the UFC banner for eight years. “The Truth” was even considered to be one of the top prospects at one point during this run, before he went on a multiple fight skid that led to his eventual release from the company in 2013.
The 41-year-old Filipino-American fighter is now competing under ONE Championship, where he holds the promotion’s heavyweight title. During a recent interview with BJPenn Radio, he compared about his experiences fighting for both organizations.
“Honestly man, if I can sum it up in one word… the word [would be] ‘respect.’ That word alone. They give the fighters the respect that they deserve as modern day samurai, as modern day elite athletes, as modern day gladiators,” Vera said, speaking of ONE Championship. “They treat them well for the performance that they want to see. That’s the only way I can explain it, is the amount of respect that they give to, each and everyone single one of the athletes.
“The attention to detail that they do for you and how well prepared they are for you, so that you can just do your job and perform to the best that evening [of your fight]. They make everything so easy for the athletes.”
“ONE Championship is setting the bar for that,” he continued. “Honestly, I’ll tell you like this like 95% of modern day athletes, warriors, mixed martial artists, martial artists, just want to be treated with the amount of respect that ONE is giving. [When they get that respect] they will give you their all, and it is showing in all of the performances at all of the events.”
Vera, however, is not able to speak with the same flattering words when referring to his former employer.
“The same word that I used to describe ONE Championship is the exact same word that I used when I told [UFC President] Dana White the reason why I was leaving the company,” Vera explained. “They had no respect for any of the athletes. The way they spoke to them, the way they treated them. The way that they talked to them or the way they looked at them.”
“Talk to somebody from ONE Championship,” he said. “Reach out, send an email. If you are a free agent, find out if you qualify to be fighting for ONE Championship. Find out there’s a place and home for you and see if ONE Championship can do anything with you.”
Vera (15-7, with 1 NC and 11 wins by stoppage) has not seen action since December 2016, when he successfully defended the ONE Championship heavyweight title for the first time against Hideki Sekine.