MMA analyst thinks Brandon Vera will be stopped in 3 rounds in light heavyweight title bid

Brandon Vera may have bitten more than he can chew by coming down a weight class to challenge Aung La N Sang for the ONE light heavyweight world title, according to mixed martial arts analyst Nissi Icasiano.

Vera, the reigning ONE heavyweight world champion, is scheduled to lock horns against Myanmar's favorite son and two-division champion in the main event of ONE: Century Part 2 on October 13 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

"This will be the first time that Brandon Vera will have to fight a quality opponent since he joined the company in 2014. Almost all of his opponents weren't at par with his skill set nor at least touched his resume," said Icasiano.

"Aung La N Sang is a fighter with training partners from UFC and Bellator. He gets to train with some of the best light heavyweights and middleweights in America so we can say he has quality."

Ever since his entry into ONE Championship, Vera has blasted all of his past four opponents within the opening round. While it was fun to watch, the Filipino analyst cited that it could prove rather detrimental to the Filipino-American.

"Vera is yet to fight a quality foe from 2014 to 2019. That is five years so we really can't tell if he's still high caliber because he's yet to be tested," he said.

"Another factor is the fact that Vera is yet to make it out of the first round. Five years is half a decade, a lot of things could've changed during those five years," he added.

"Vera only has a height advantage in every criteria. He only has size. When it comes to chin, Aung La has chin."

And if Icasiano was in charge of the odds, he is sure to pen Aung La as the favorite heading into the much-awaited fight

"In my opinion, the real favorite in this fight is Aung La N Sang, not Brandon Vera," he said.

"We can say that this is the first test for Vera since he joined ONE Championship in 2014. This will not be a walk in the park and we have to see how he adjusts from cutting weight at 42 years old."

After weighing on all the factors, Icasiano also arrived at a prediction that could break the hearts of millions of Filipinos.

"It won't last three rounds. Aung La will stop him in three rounds." — BM, GMA News