More of “The Truth” preparing for his heavyweight showdown at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7:
For the first training vid in what appears to be a weekly series click here.
May 7th, 2008
26 Comments »
War Vera ! !
I like Vera a lot, I think he’d be a monster if he wasn’t so lazy and moved to LHW. He’s a small HW and can’t touch nog, that said, he’s still one of my favorites
tough fight to call, but im going w/ vera in this one.
Another guy with a mask on. You gotta really want to win to put up with that shit.
still would be a better idea if he dropped down to LHW. He is a young guy and even at LHW he wont be the biggest in the division. Bisbing learned his lesson, win or lose hopefully Vera will also.
I’m going with Vera in this fight though. Not overly impressed by his opponents last two fites.
True that he easily could make LHW, but in doing that he would being leaving aguably the weakest division in the UFC to go to one of the toughest. I would like to see him at LHW eventually, but he is only one or two wins away from a title shot at HW.
Well said Haze..I agree 100%.
So what he is small, he has shown no reason for him needing to drop down..Vera has amazing stand-up, and is a great addition to the weak ass HW division…I think he does get lazy at time’s, but hopfully the Timmy fight made him realize he needs to work more..Plus he frequently trains with Rampage, and Jaunito said he is always in his ear about cardio, so I think Vera will get his shit together…On top of all of that, Like Haze stated he is “one or two” wins away from a title shot….Case closed.Vera belongs in the HW division..
i agree to an extent, however, i don’t think Vera or any fighter for that matter would want to stay in the hw division just because its easier and u can get a title shot faster. it’s the ultimate fighting championship, these guys want to test themselves against the best fighters in the world. the ufc hw division is a joke ever since randy left.
i think vera should move down to lhw and challenge there. better for his health, cardio, he’ll be a lot faster on his feet too.
brandon vera is young and talented. who cares if he drops down to lightheavyweight. hes winning fights at heavyweight. plus the lightheavyweight division is way more stacked.
I guess I’ll be one of the few to predict werdum, he’ll be taking one of vera’s arm home :p
who cares if vera drops to LHW or not. hes winning fights at HW. AND even tho he shares a div with nog,lesnar,and gonzaga, thhe LHW div is way more stacked
I am not ready to pick one over the other just yet. Like I always say, great match ups are ones that are tough to call and this is certainly one of them. maybe its just me, but I think Werdum is dangerous. He has been in many big fights already at Heavyweight and he has proven he can win. Vera, is one of the more entertaining fighters, so its hard not to love the guy, but like many of you said, I think he is just flat out lazy, or maybe he is a little over confident…I dont know what it is, but I do not think he should be fighting at Heavyweight. Forrest Griffin walks around bigger then Vera when he fights. I just am not impressed with Vera’s heavyweight Resume…his biggest win is probaly against Mir (but in Mir’s worst form). I was however impressed with him going to a decision against Sylvia, which is probably the Biggest and one of the hardest hitting heavyweights out there. Vera being one of the smaller HW, I was impressed to see Vera take shots from Big Tim. His jaw impressed me more then anything. Now if we are being honest, that wasn’t one of Tim’s better fights. He didnt exactly fight to win, more of a Press Vera up the gate and dry hump away. If Sylvia fought as aggressive as he did against Nog, I am not so sure Vera would have survived.
Werdum is still developing as a striker and mixed martial artist. What I have learned about him since coming to the UFC is that he is improving and understands what he needs to do to be successful fighting in the UFC. Will the improvements be enough to beat Vera in June? Not sure which way I am picking yet. I do know that Werdum wont be overwhelmed by Vera’s Muy Tai. Since he has been training with those chute box animals, he sees what Vera will bring to the table, every day in sparring.
I do not know if Vera will be able to survive the ground with Werdum if the fight goes there…but that a big IF, because Vera’s greco Roman wrestling should be able to keep himself on his feet for as long as he wants. Vera has good ju jitsu, by Werdum’s ju jitsu is a little different…That dude is on a very high level. Big Nog practically admitted that Werdum might be better then him on the ground…..That should scare Vera.
What I am certain about this fight is, if Vera cant beat Werdum, he HAS to drop down to LHW!! I say this not to discredit Werdum but because Vera is a very small Heavyweight and Werdum is one of the few Heavyweights that arent much bigger and wont be Physical with him. If Vera cant win this fight and he continues to fight at HW he is a damn fool that is either getting bad advice or is really stubborn
If I had to pick right now I would say….Werdum..But dont hold me to that since I am sure to change my mind 10 times by the time the fight happens.
this fight will def tell the tale of both fighters, on who is a top hw conteder and who isnt. i still dont like the thing that werdum does when he lies on his back and waves guys in. youre right his bjj is on another level and no one is goingt to go to the ground w/ him willingly. he’s gonna have to find a way to take them down, and that doesn’t look good to the judges. im not sure about werdum yet, he beat gonzaga, but gonzaga was kicking his ass for the 1rst rnd and i dont know if it was gonzaga condioning, mental weakness or if werdum just flat out imposed his will on him. probably a little of everything. im not sold on vera yet either though, kids got alot of heart but i question his conditioning as well. very interesting match-up nonetheless. joe silva got one right for a change.
BW: As much as I like Werdum, I think your post was very accurate. I also HATE when he is on his back waving an opponent in his guard and I agree that it looks bad to the judges and the American public. Hopefully He will gain more confidence in his stand up at Chute box so we wont see that crap out of him any more.
I would also like to see him learn to find a way to take fighters down because right now his ju jitsu is USELESS! Hopefully chute Box can teach him some of the effective trips that helped make wanderlei and shogun so succesful. It will be a real shame if he doesnt learn how to take fighters down because his high level ju jitsu is a big asset that he does not get to utilize too often.
You guys hit the nail in this one, I HATE WHEN GROUND FIGHTERS WAVE THEIR OPPONENTS TO GO INTO THEIR GUARDS, I guess it’s a jiu-jitsu thing, their just much more comfortable on their back. Minotauro used to do that a lot also in Pride and each time he did that it just killed me, I’d just scream to the TV saying “can’t you see he’s not going to go to the ground with you???”. I’m a big fan o Minotauro, but became even bigger when he stopped doing that. Hopefully werdum learns this lesson also if he wants to have a fan base in the US.
In Pride when a guy did that, the fighter standing would just throw nasty low kicks at the guy on his backs butt or the back of his thighs…u dont see that too often in the UFC and it has been effective.
1 of my favorite fights was Sakuraba vs. Royler Gracie back at PRIDE 5 (I think). Royler kept doing that crap, waving SAkuraba into his guard. saku just stood there and blasted his ass with like a thousand ass kicks, that seemed very effective. Saku then clowned him and grabbed his ankles and drug him around the PRIDE ring…that was one of my favorite mma momments.
Also when Royler stood up, you got to see that those kicks were effective….wonder why you dont see that in the UFC?
I think they do that as a ‘reverse psychology’ thing. The more they wave them in the less likely the opponent will go towards them. This way he has a chance of standing back up without getting hit.
Opponents should just go and start kicking him but also being careful of not getting too close.
Didn’t Vera break his hand in the first vs Big Tim?
Yes, but so have a lot of fighters.
He’s not the truth no more. We’ll see how he does in this fight. I’m a fan and hope he does well.
I’m not predicting Vera to win or even putting any money down on this 1. I just want Vera to either roundhouse kick Werdum in is face or submit him from leg kicks Dan Severn style. That would amuse me. Vera’s one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC. Werdum is one of the most boring fighters. No doubt who I’m rooting for.
Wandy with a snorkel and Vera with that Oxygen mask. I am thinking of doing my Jiu-Jitsu training wearing some nose plugs and orange floaties. haha
I know that helps them to get used to taking in less air, but it sure seems like it would be annoying to try to kick and punch while wearing that stuff.
Shut up Vera’… oh’ u didn’t say much… shut up anyways.
Vera looks like he’s a beast in this vid. I’ll be rooting for him for sure. Werdum is by no way some one to look past.I see Vera winning, but not easily.
Shout out’s to Lloyd Irving for sporting the “Fokai” brand. My homie makes those! nice!
i hope vera wins and gets a title shot if he does. frank mir doesnt deserve a title shot. beat brock lesnar get a title shot? thats dumb.
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i hope vera wins and gets a title shot if he does. frank mir doesnt deserve a title shot. beat brock lesnar get a title shot? thats duuumb.
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