Brandon Vera set to defend ONE FC title in Manila

The ONE Championship Heavyweight Champion

Brandon Vera finally gets a title defense.

ONE Championship has announced that its current Heavyweight World Champion will be headlining its latest MMA event at the Mall of Asia Arena: ONE: Conquest of Champions this coming November 23.

Vera claimed the strap back in December 2015 with a knockout victory over Paul Cheng. He has had just one title defense since, defeating Hideki Sekine via technical knockout in the first round a year later to raise his record to 15-7 with 1 NC. The upcoming fight will be his first fight in almost two years.

Seeking to dethrone "The Truth" on his home turf is Mauro Cerilli. "The Hammer" from Italy is the current Heavyweight Champion of the London-based MMA outfit Cage Warriors and will be making his ONE Championship debut at ONE: Conquest of Champions. Toting a 12-2 professional record, Cerilli is fresh from dispatching Karl Moore back in March for his first title defense, needing just 15 seconds to stop the Irish fighter in London during Cage Warriors 92, extending his winning streak to five matches.

In making the announcement, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong shares: "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."

Sityodtong also shared his excitement for the co-main event for ONE: Conquest of Champions, as the ONE Championship will be crowning a new lightweight champion, with Eduard Folayang and Amir Khan duking it out. He notes that it will be "an electric evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila."

Folayang has bounced back well since losing the title to Martin Nguyen last year, notching unaninous decision victories over Kharun Atlangeriev back in May and Aziz Pahrudinov this past July to get himself back into the title picture with Nguyen forced to vacate the title a few weeks ago.

Khan, on the other hand, has won eight of his last nine bouts to figure in the title picture in this competitive division, including a first-round submission victory over Honorio Banario last September.

For further details on ONE: Conquest of Champions and other upcoming ONE Championship events, one should check out www.onefc.com.