Brandon Vera to defend ONE heavyweight title against Arjan Bhullar at ONE Infinity 2

ONE Championship’s second “Infinity Series” event has a heavyweight main event, with two familiar names to UFC fans set to go head to head for championship gold.

Reigning ONE heavyweight champion Brandon Vera will put his title on the line against Canada’s Arjan Bhullar in the main event of ONE Infinity 2 at the Mall of Asia, Manila, Philippines on Friday, May 29. The event will be streamed live on B/R Live following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Vera (16-8) is undefeated as a heavyweight in ONE Championship, with all four of his victories coming via first-round knockout. He captured the ONE heavyweight title in his second fight for the promotion, against Paul Cheng at “ONE Championship 35: Spirit of Champions” in November 2015, and has since defended it with first-round finishes of Japanese judoka Hideki Sekine and Italian former Cage Warriors heavyweight champion Mauro Cerilli.

Now he is set to face former Olympic wrestler and UFC fighter Bhullar (10-1), who claimed a unanimous decision win over Cerilli on his promotional debut at “ONE Championship 100: Century – Part 2” in October 2019. The 33-year-old heads into the title fight riding a three-fight win streak, with UFC wins over Marcelo Golm and Juan Adams joining his victory over Cerilli on his recent slate.

The co-main event in Manila sees a second title up for grabs, as Christian Lee puts the ONE lightweight belt on the line against undefeated Moldovan Iuri Lapicus.

Lee (13-3) had unsuccessfully challenged for the ONE featherweight title in 2018 when he moved up a weight class to take on Japanese icon – and Lee’s occasional training partner – Shinya Aoki for the lightweight belt at “ONE Championship 96: Enter the Dragon” in May 2019.

Lee stunned Aoki with a blistering performance to claim the title via second-round TKO then, five months later, captured the ONE lightweight grand prix title with a dominant decision victory over Turkey’s Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev at “ONE Championship 100: Century – Part 1.”

Now “The Warrior” takes on a new challenge in the form of Moldova’s Lapicus (14-0), who surged into title contention with back-to-back submission finishes of Shannon Wiratchai and former featherweight champion Marat Gafurov. His win over the latter particularly caught the eye as he finished the former featherweight champion with his own signature move, the rear-naked choke, in just 67 seconds at “ONE Championship 108: Warrior’s Code.”

Also set to star in Manila is former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who returns to action against grand prix finalist Arslanaliev in a lightweight matchup.

Alvarez (30-7) endured a nightmare start to his ONE Championship career when he was knocked out inside a round by Russian power-puncher Timofey Nastyukhin in the quarterfinals of the lightweight grand prix tournament. But “The Underground King” showed his fighting spirit in his next outing, as he bounced back with a come-from-behind win over former lightweight champion Eduard Folayang at “ONE Championship 99: Dawn of Heroes” in Manila in August 2019.

Alvarez returns to the scene of that victory, The Mall of Asia Arena, for his next test as he takes on dangerous finisher Arslanaliev (8-2), whose blistering run of finishes in ONE Championship came to an end against Lee in the lightweight grand prix final. Prior to that loss, “Dagi’s” only defeat came via disqualification. All eight of Arslanaliev’s wins have come inside the distance, with seven of them coming inside the first round.

ONE Infinity 2 confirmed fights:

• Brandon Vera vs. Arjan Bhullar – for heavyweight title
• Christian Lee vs. Iuri Lapicus – for lightweight title
• Eddie Alvarez vs. Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev