ONE Championship 113: Brandon Vera puts heavyweight strap on line in Manila in May

Reigning ONE heavyweight champion Brandon Vera will return to the division to put his title on the line on May 29.

Vera (16-8) made an in-cage appearance at “ONE Championship 107: Fire & Fury” at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on Friday to formally announce his return at “ONE Championship 113: Code of Honor,” which takes place at the same venue in May. His heavyweight title defense will be the main event, though his opponent will be announced later.

“I will be defending our belt on May 29 at MOA Arena,” Vera told the crowd. “We have people challenging me, thinking they can take our belt away.”

Vera’s tenure in ONE Championship saw him reel off four consecutive first-round knockouts to capture the promotion’s heavyweight title. He has defended it twice. The 42-year-old’s last outing saw him drop down to light heavyweight to challenge ONE middleweight and light heavyweight champion Aung La N Sang at “ONE Championship 100: Century.” But “The Burmese Python” snapped Vera’s unbeaten run in ONE with a second-round TKO.

Now Vera is returning to his regular weight class to defend his title, with AsianMMA.com reporting that Canadian former UFC heavyweight Arjan Bhullar will challenge for the belt – though the matchup is yet to be officially announced.

ONE Championship’s next event, “ONE Championship 108: Warrior’s Code,” takes place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, with middleweight contenders Leandro Ataides and Reinier de Ridder going head to head in the featured MMA bout.