Former Cage Warriors heavyweight champion Mauro Cerilli bounced back into the win column in the main event of ONE Championship 127 in Singapore to move one step closer to a heavyweight title rematch with Brandon Vera. Cerilli lost out to Vera via first-round knockout in his first title challenge back at ONE Championship 85 in November 2018. He bounced back with a victory over Alain Ngalani, but fell to another defeat as he was outpointed by Arjan Bhullar at “ONE Championship: Century – Part 2” in October 2019. But, after taking more than a year away from the cage, “The Hammer” returned in fine form to snap Abdulbasir Vagabov ’s 10-fight winning streak and push himself back into the heavyweight title conversation. Vagabov pushed the pace from the opening bell as he chased the backpedaling Cerilli around the cage, with the Italian throwing the occasional one-two combination to give the Russian contender a moment’s pause. Vagabov continued his forward pressure, but Cerilli ensured that the Russian’s winging punches connected with nothing but air as he kept out of punching range, then connected with occasional counter-strikes of his own.