As a UFC fighter, Brandon Vera was never able to capture gold in either the heavyweight or light heavyweight divisions, despite once publicly stating he was going to be the first fighter in the organization's history to do so.
Despite those missed goals, Vera, now 37 years of age, earned the inaugural heavyweight title for ONE Championship on Friday, besting Paul Cheng with a thunderous knockout finish in short order at ONE Championship 35 in Manila, Philippines.
Cheng, a week-of late replacement for Chi Lewis-Parry, charged in against Vera, but never came close to landing anything of significance.