This one is official.
Brandon Vera is headed back to the Octagon after nearly a 12-month layoff, according to UFC.com.
The undefeated heavyweight could return as early as October, which would put him on the UFC 77: “Hostile Territory” card in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Here’s the snip:
“… rising heavyweight star Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera … will finally return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization…. Dana White, UFC President, who was pleased to make the announcement of Vera’s return today, expects the Californian to be back in action as soon as October of this year.”
It’s an interesting scenario, considering the fight card is almost complete.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, however, has been rumored to also make his return from back surgery that same night at the U.S. Bank Arena. The two were supposed to clash at UFC 68 earlier this year, but negotiations fell apart and Randy Couture took his spot.
The rest, as you know, is history.
Another former division titleholder, Andrei Arlovski, is also a possible opponent for “The Truth.” In fact, we first passed along speculation that a fight was in the works for UFC 78 in November.
Unfortunately, no match up at this point has been confirmed. But this latest news is a giant step forward in terms of seeing the talented Filipino-American back in action. It’s only a matter of time before we get an official announcement.
In the meantime, fans can breath a sigh of relief, including the head honcho himself.
Here’s a snip from White:
“Brandon Vera is a young, well-rounded, exciting heavyweight who finishes fights in exciting fashion. I think he brings a lot to the heavyweight mix, and I see him in a position to fight for the heavyweight title in 2008.”
There was no indication in the press release as to whether or not Vera signed a contract extension — he had one fight left on his deal. However, if White is talking about him fighting in October and in 2008, then we can surmise that he is indeed locked up for a few more fights.
Here’s a snip from Vera:
“I’m so excited to be back in the UFC, I have no words to describe the feeling. I realize the UFC heavyweight division is much stronger now, but I like having more challenges, and that just gives me more motivation to train. I feel that when I’m on top of my game, nobody can beat me. I have a plan to become the heavyweight champion, so I’m going to stick to the plan that my management team NCFC and both of my coaches set and win the titles. I want to prove I’m the best for my family, my friends and most of all my fans.”
The management and contract issues that dogged Vera for the better part of the year are now in the rear-view mirror. It’s good to see him back. He’s got his work cut out for him, however, to say the least — things have changed drastically in the division during his absence.
To follow this story from the beginning check out our Brandon Vera archive.
45 Comments »
Vera/Arlovski is the best way to kick it off
PLEASE DANA LET HIM FIGHT A.A
DANG STAFO THOUGHT I HAD THE FIRST POST.BUT GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!
poor Arlovski!
ABOUT #$@*ING TIME. Lets get him in there against some of the new competition and see if he’s where he left off. Hope the ring rust doesn’t show. I’m excited about this.
No warm up fights! Big Nog…
ill believe it when i see it,they been saying this for about a month!!
If arlovski fights vera, vera will get his first loss.
Let’s not forget that Tim Sylvia is slated to appear on the October card, albeit pending due to back issues. Maybe Vera could put Timmy away for good.
T
The only PPV in October is the one in Cincinnati. And right now they Tim Sylvia set against TBA. Seems like the perfect spot to put Vera.
let the truth be told
I love Brandon Vera!!! He is soooooo Dreamy!!!
[quote comment=”127227″]The only PPV in October is the one in Cincinnati. And right now they Tim Sylvia set against TBA. Seems like the perfect spot to put Vera.[/quote]
If Brandon Vera is on the card, I will buy a ticket to UFC 77, because right now, just wanting to see Rich, Stephan and Jorge fight is not enough for me.
Vera would push it over the limit and I will pay to see this fight, live.
Regardless I am getting it on PPV if not there live.
Isn’t Silvia one of the Militech guys that got staph. Will he be able to fight in Oct.? I know Mcfedries is going to be ou until 08′.
I don’t know why, but I want to see Vera get KO’d. Theres something about the guy…..I don’t know.
Can’t wait to see Vera fight against a top 10 guy, then we can see if he’s the real deal or not. Even if he loses to Sylvia or Arlovski, if he makes it close, even a loss can propel him in many doubter’s mind.
I wanna c Arlovski vs. vera. However, Tim is scheduled to fight in october and that card is in desperate need of 1 or 2 more quality fights then what the UFC has presented so far. Vera vs. Tim can fill some of that void. However, I hear rumors about the dirty Militech camp having staph infection problems.. including sylvia. I dont know if its true and if sylvia would be healthy in October.
Either way get vera on that weak as October pay per view against any of the following opponents:
Arlovski
Big Tim
Big Nog
Josh Barnett would be an exciting opponent(if dana gets his head out of his ass and signs him)
Basically, what Im trying to say is that Vera needs to fight a top 10 opponent in Cincinatti because even though franklin vs. sylvia is awesome, it just isnt enough to compete with the level of all the recent UFC pay per veiws.
About time. Lets see what this guy is made of.
[quote comment=”127244″]Can’t wait to see Vera fight against a top 10 guy, then we can see if he’s the real deal or not. Even if he loses to Sylvia or Arlovski, if he makes it close, even a loss can propel him in many doubter’s mind.[/quote]
Totally agree. I don’t think that Vera has really been tested as much as is required to be a top contender. Just one fight, win or lose can paint an accurate picture of just how good he really is.
Does anyone know when Werdum is going to fight again?
definately exciting news, that being said, get em in there to ARN, AA, TS, someone worth getting excited over. He’s definatley had some exciting finishes & i’d like to see him up against the best the UFC HW division has to offer.
AA would kill him
[quote comment=”127213″]poor Arlovski![/quote]
you took the words out of my mouth!
Jimbo has it correct, it will be Fabricio Werdum.
I can’t see him fighting Sylvia. I think Tim would duck this fight for his first one back.
[quote post=”3042″]If arlovski fights vera, vera will get his first loss. [/quote]
I wouldn’t bet on that.
Thanks to UFCmania reader “C-War” BTW for the heads up.
its about time!!!!!!!arlovski or silvia. has to be one of those two.(unless big nog is ready to go for october)
It’s great that he finally signed with the UFC again. I can’t wait to see Big Tim or The Pitfuldestroy Vera down to Light Heavyweight.
Have any of you guys seen Brandon’s wife, Kerry Vera, fight?
She’s F****** AWESOME!
[quote comment=”127334″]It’s great that he finally signed with the UFC again. I can’t wait to see Big Tim or The Pitbul destroy Vera down to Light Heavyweight.[/quote]
nice - and i bet that will happen
i like both AA and Vera. Kinda rooting for AA on this one. I really want to see him get back into the swing of things. I really want Vera to drop in weight and dominate LHW.
[quote comment=”127264″][quote comment=”127244″]Can’t wait to see Vera fight against a top 10 guy, then we can see if he’s the real deal or not. Even if he loses to Sylvia or Arlovski, if he makes it close, even a loss can propel him in many doubter’s mind.[/quote]
Totally agree. I don’t think that Vera has really been tested as much as is required to be a top contender. Just one fight, win or lose can paint an accurate picture of just how good he really is.[/quote]
And- Vera hasn’t fought a single fight in 2007.
[quote comment=”127313″]its about time!!!!!!!arlovski or silvia. has to be one of those two.(unless big nog is ready to go for october)[/quote]
Big Nog is expecting his phone to ring right after Couture-Gonzaga so I doubt it will be him.
There are more match ups now that can raise my eyebrow a bit..
CroCop vs Vera
Big Nog vs Gonzaga
Couture vs Fedor ( per Dana )
AA vs CroCop
Vera vs AA
Gonzaga vs Fedor
Big Nog vs Vera
..Tim Silvia?? What about him..
Vera will take out Andre (I lost to Tim Sylvia twice)Arlovski.
Arlovski does just enough not to lose now where as Vera will take him out the first oppurtunity he gets. Vera does not fight to get a descision win. As un technical as he might be, I actually think Vera would have a harder time against Sylvia, especially as he likes using Muay Thai knees to soften up his opponents. I think that would be a little harder against big Tim.
[quote comment=”127463″]i like both AA and Vera. Kinda rooting for AA on this one. I really want to see him get back into the swing of things. I really want Vera to drop in weight and dominate LHW.[/quote]
I doubt anyone will be dominating the LHW division anytime soon. I expect the LHW title to change hands many times this year. Shogun has the potential to clean out the division.
But if u r a big Verra fan, I wouldnt want him fighting in a division that boasts liddell, shogun, rampage, hendo, wanderlei.
He’s better off at heavyweight because a lot of the top 10 fighters at the HW division have had shacky performances as of lately.
If I was Verra Id rather fight:
Arlovski(very tentative fighter since the sylvia fight)
Big Tim (pussy who’s confidence has to be at an all time low after getting a 25 min beatdown by an old man, whom he dwarfed)
Noguera (extremely dangerous, although weak performance against hearing that we can chalk up to UFC jitters.
Werdum (crappy on his feet)
My point is that verra can have more success at Heavyweight
Vera just needs to get in the octagon against a Top 5 talent. They better not even dare put him in the octagon against the likes of Carmelo Marrero or Brad Imes. The time has come for Brandon Vera to prove himself to all the doubters.
Someone said that he would have a better chance at clearing out the LHW division than the HW division. I would have to argue that one…
[quote post=”3042″]Big Tim (pussy who’s confidence has to be at an all time low after getting a 25 min beatdown by an old man, whom he dwarfed)[/quote]
Tim Sylvia is actually tough as nails and hits like a mule, he’s just not as likeable as the guys he fights (Couture, Arlovski, etc…)
Brandon Vera will be a champion one day, no doubt- I don’t know why so many people disrespect him.
Nobody disrespects Verra. I think we all trrtying to say that he hasnt foughten ne 1 yet. However he’s got all the potential in the world
There is no way Vera is gonna walk into the Octagon with Dana swinging from his nuts and fight any of the top10 HWs in the UFC. He is marketable, Dana knows that… you’re gonna see atleast 2 fights before he fights anyone prime, by prime, I mean someone that has the potential of beating him, not even nessicarily top 10.
Sorry, but guy hasnt proven anything yet… Now Sylvia - Vera I would LOVE to see. Styles are so close… and Tim’s reach would really show if Vera has other aspects of his game outside of striking.
i don’t think that his first fight in a year will with tim slyvia besides he is out with some rare flesh eating disease, andre he might fight next year my guess would be he will fight in oct against fabrico werdum just watch and let see i am the same guy who predicted lidell would fight jardine before they even announced the match up
him having a perfect record just means he hasn’t fought anybody.i agree that he is the future but TIM,A.A,CC, all been in wars before.he hasnt lets just see what he does.i’m happy we got some good fights coming up.last year was good this year is the shittle.
[quote post=”3042″]last year was good this year is the shittle. [/quote]
“This year is the shittle”, huh. Where are you from Cheeks? Pluto? I’ve NEVER heard that expression used in my life.