Brandon Vera, Then and Now......It's not the Same

By Jason Kelly

Need I remind you Brandon Vera is the guy who called out Chuck Liddell when Chuck was in his prime and Vera was a mere puppy in the UFC. Vera is also a guy that came into the UFC with intentions of capturing UFC gold, and considering his first four outings resulted in Vera finishing his opponents, his intentions appeared to be within his grasp.

Brandon “The Truth” Vera displayed crisp Muay Thai in his early UFC fights and even accomplished a submission; Vera’s biggest win in the heavyweight chapter of his career is unquestionably Frank Mir. Vera stopped Mir which earned Vera a test in the form of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Sylvia defeated Vera in a fight that went the distance which seemed to be a slight set back in Vera’s future, something I assumed Vera would learn from and move on. His next bout was against Fabricio Werdum and that resulted in another loss for Vera via poor stoppage on the referee’s behalf, Vera showed emotions of discouragement at the press conference following that fight, and shortly thereafter Vera made the drop to light heavyweight.

Vera claimed to feel stronger and faster at 205 pounds, as well as rejuvenated from his previous two losses. “The Truth” took Reese Andy to a unanimous decision when many predicted Vera would walk through Andy, Vera then followed up that performance with a decision loss to Keith Jardine and that is when it was apparent that Vera lost that oomph. Vera managed to pull off two consecutive victories after the Jardine loss, but it was visible that Vera was not the same Vera that came prepared to smash his opponent in devastating fashion, and that has clearly shown in his last three fights.

Vera has all the skills to win, but something is preventing him from culminating those skills and achieving victory. Vera’s losses are respectable losses that should not make one feel inadequate or discouraged, if it is a mental issue Vera has, he needs to deal with it, regain the killer instinct he once had and add it to his incredible MMA skills. If Vera can get one good win under his belt his confidence may raise and the Vera who competed at UFC 57 may return with vicious striking and an eagerness to be the best. A confident, complete Brandon Vera is a tough challenge for any fighter in the 205 pound division.

Vera’s UFC future is in the air at this point, after losing three fights in a row and the last two losses were destructive losses, literally destructive to Vera’s face, does not exactly make him a top priority for the UFC. The UFC has not mentioned their plans for Vera as of yet, although with three losses in a row, any fighter would recognize that their future with the company looks grim. It would be nice for the UFC to give Vera one more chance and for Vera to return to his old form because when “The Truth” is giving an honest performance, he can compete with anyone in the 205 pound division; and that’s the truth.


http://www.themouthofmma.com/apps/blog/show/5747307-brandon-vera-then-and-now-it-s-not-the-same-

Tell whomever wrote that story, that they need to include Vera's age at some point. And there are one too many "the truth"s in the final sentence.


But in 2 of his 3 recent losses(one of which I thought he won easily) he won the striking portion of the fight, but could not keep from being controlled, whether against the fence or on the mat. The fight against Bones? I'll chalk that up to fighting one of best looking prospects this fight game has seen.

So for me, it's not lack of oomph, or lack of desire, it's a hole in his game that is the problem. One that Mir(his only good win) or any of his other victims could not exploit.

well put Captain, I kinda agree

Its gonna definitely take some time for that nose to recover lol.

vera vs hamill or vera vs tito and loser goes. Vera needs to go to thailand for a few months and get his fire back.

Vera is the most overated fighter ever. He beat a Mir still getting his grove back from his injury and a bunch of cans. He was a product of the UFC hype machine at it's best.

Shut up freak.

He doesn't need to go to Thailand. He needs to train with his partner Phil Davis more. The ease that Thiago and Bones took him down will have him in trouble with anyone in the top 15. What's interesting is that it seemed like Randy couldn't take Vera down, but I'm not sure he was trying to now, but was rather interested in dirty boxing. After that fight I assumed that Vera's wrestling was way underrated, and when Jones ragdolled him, I just figured that was just a testament to how good Jones is. But when Thiago took him down at will, that raised some alarms. Granted Thiago looked stronger than ever, that dude is a huge LHW now. Maybe Thiago deserves more props out of all of this.

sokolkevin wrote:

vera vs hamill or vera vs tito and loser goes. Vera needs to go to thailand for a few months and get his fire back.

Vera vs Hamill shouldn't happen and if it did and Hamill lost he should certainly not be released. Vera Tito though....

GDPofDRC wrote:

sokolkevin wrote:

vera vs hamill or vera vs tito and loser goes. Vera needs to go to thailand for a few months and get his fire back.

Vera vs Hamill shouldn't happen and if it did and Hamill lost he should certainly not be released. Vera Tito though....

Definitely agree.