Brandon Vera now stablemates with ex-rival Aung La N Sang

MANILA, Philippines — After having previously locked horns in the ONE Circle, Brandon Vera and Aung La N Sang are now teammates in Sanford MMA.

The 43-year-old veteran, who also fights out of his own Alliance Training Center here in the Philippines, recently joined N Sang and Martin Nguyen in Sanford to train under renowned striking coach Henri Hooft.

Vera's joining with Sanford MMA comes in anticipation of his expected title defense against Indian heavyweight star Arjan Bhullar for the ONE World Heavyweight World Championship.

The fight is all but set in stone with only the official announcement from ONE Championship.

N Sang spoke about Vera's entry into Sanford MMA and shared an interesting detail of how the ONE Heavyweight titlist approached the idea of joining the former in their stable.

"It was funny because he (Vera) DM'd Martin to see if I was okay (with it)," said N Sang.

"We sent him a video message with me saying 'You should be asking me, not him!'," he added in jest.

N Sang, who faced Vera in October 2019 in a successful title defense for his Light Heavyweight belt, revealed that he was happy to be joined by the 43-year-old in their team.

"I'm a big fan of Brandon Vera. I'm just happy that he's here with us," said N Sang.

"He's in a camp that's filled with killers. It's only going to help him. It's only going to make him a better champion, and a better mixed martial artist," he added.

Vera's membership in a stable like Sanford MMA is expected to raise the level of the US-born fighter with ONE Championship now stacked with heavyweight and light heavyweight fighters.

Over the past year, the Singapore promotion has signed the likes of Marcus Almeida, Tom DeBlass, Amir Aliakbari, and most recently grappling icon Gordon Ryan.