Christmas has come early for Taiwanese-Canadian mixed martial artist Paul “The Typhoon” Cheng, who has unexpectedly been given a chance to achieve his dream of becoming the world’s first Asian heavyweight world champion tonight.
ONE Championship called in Cheng to face former UFC star Brandon Vera for its inaugural heavyweight title in Manila tonight, as a late replacement for Britain’s Chi Lewis-Parry.
Lewis-Parry was pulled from the main event because he refused to submit medical and drug tests, then failed to board his flight to Manila, ONE chief executive Victor Cui said on Facebook on Tuesday.
However, Lewis-Parry alleges that the organization had been scheming to replace him, citing a Facebook post from Cheng last week that he was being flown out to Manila.
Regardless of the controversy, and the odds, Cheng is happy to be receiving his shot.
“This is a dream come true,” Cheng told the Taipei Times yesterday. “I started MMA to become a world champion. It was unexpected, and short notice, but life’s hard sometimes and unexpected. You have to take what you can get. I’ve worked hard for the last 14 months, I’ve made sacrifices and gone through a lot. Thanks God and whoever gave me this opportunity, and for the chance to fall on me. I am excited to fight for Taiwan.”
Cheng (5-1-0) has no illusions about the challenge he faces. Not only does he face a storied opponent in Vera (13-7-0), without having had anything approaching a full training camp, but he will be fighting a five-round title fight for the first time, after a career marked by early stoppages in which he has had to fight beyond the second round only once.
“This is the toughest fight of my life,” he said. “Brandon Vera is definitely my toughest opponent to date. I don’t expect an easy fight, but I am always down for a dogfight. Even if the fight goes one round or five rounds, I’m not going to give up. I got a lot to fight for — I’m fighting for the people and will be wearing my Taiwan shirt. Let’s rock and roll Friday night.”
Cheng, a former Canadian football player, last fought in July last year in Taipei, when he stopped Mahmoud Hassan to notch his second ONE Championship victory.
Cheng has a significant size advantage over Vera, who has fought most of his career as a light heavyweight, although he has faced top heavyweights in the UFC, including Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir. However, in addition to having the benefit of a full training camp and having faced much tougher competition, the Filipino-American will also enjoy a home crowd advantage in Manila.
Meanwhile, Lewis-Parry’s withdrawal from the bout has earned him the bitter enmity of Vera, who launched an expletive-filled rant in a video he posted on Facebook in which he accused the Briton of cowardice and vowed to visit him at his home before Christmas to fight him, with or without gloves.
For his part, Lewis-Parry is threatening to sue ONE Championship over its alleged machinations.
Cheng, though, is focused on the task at hand.
“I just want to focus on the fight against Vera on Friday night,” Cheng said.
“I apologize for any situation that happened. I like Chi, but this is his drama. I wish things would work out differently for him, but I am grateful for this opportunity given by ONE to step up,” he added.
“I hope Taiwan supports me,” he said. “I know it’s short notice and everything is stacked against me, but I want to prove that Taiwanese people are not weak. I will show the world Friday night.”
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