As expected, former heavyweight contender Brandon Vera (8-2) will make his light heavyweight debut at UFC Fight Night 14 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, July 19.
“The Truth” will take on Octagon newcomer and International Fight League (IFL) veteran Reese Andy (7-1) in the Spike TV special co main event, according to Sherdog.com.
It’s a quick turnaround for Vera who just competed at UFC 85: “Bedlam” on June 7, losing to Fabricio Werdum via first round technical knockout. However, the stoppage appeared to happen a bit too soon — Vera protested the call almost immediately.
Regardless, it marked his second straight defeat in the division after a unanimous decision loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 77: “Hostile Territory” in October 2007 the fight prior. And the loss to Werdum more than likely forced his hand to dip down to 205 pounds, which should not be a difficult cut for the Muay Thai specialist.
Andy is on a four-fight win streak, including impressive victories over Krzysztof Soszynski, Justin Levens, Mike Ciesnolevicz and others. He also has a win over Icon Sport Middleweight Champion Kala “Kalohe” Hose earlier in his career.
Like Vera, Andy is accustomed to fighting at heavyweight. However, this will certainly mark the biggest test to date for Andy — Vera will likely come in ticked off and faster than ever. He can make some serious waves in the loaded UFC 205-pound class.
And it all starts on July 19 … maybe.
To check out the rapidly growing UFC Fight Night 14 card click here.
67 Comments »
good to see more action out of vera.. i thought andy was thiago silva for second there…
The main event should have been a catch weight 205 lbs match up between:
Brandon Vera vs. Anderson Silva! now thats a main event!
Nobody is bringing up the point that Wandy turned down a fight free on TV that would have made all his fans very excited. I love wandy but his stock just went down becuase he always claims he just wants to fight win or lose He should have pounded on his chest and screamed “ME LIKE FIGHT ME TAKE FIGHT”.
Everyone wants to see Wandy vs. Rampage. Why the hell would wandy (a very small lightheavyweight) take a fight on 1 months notice against a Heavyweight and risk loosing a title shot? He is only 1 or 2 fightsg away!….. He can afford to loose Fans like you!
Sure Wandys thinking business here but a smart business man would have posted his face right there on a free fight card, beaten a respected heavyweight and walked away into the sunset. Wandy would have made himself look like the Wandy of old although his beat down of Jardine did that as well. I just hope the guy isn’t getting too old
With you 100% John.
Just yesterday when Wanderlei turned down the fight, I said that it was a VERY smart move. DOn’t feel like typing it up again…
I’m a MMA fan first. A fight between Wandy vs Vera free on TV would have sent shivers down every MMA fan’s spine, the world over. A fight with Rampage might take place maybe a year from now? The fight is going to happen no matter what, win or lose. I think this was a golden moment for Wandy that was lost. And becuase I am a fan of his I’m really disappointed. And he has not lost a fan, so please don’t put words into my mouth, thanks. I appreciate your comments fellow MMA fan.
Im right with you John.
Wandy is being SMART! He spent his whole career in the unorganized Pride where he would learn of his opponent 2 weeks before the fight. He has been through many wars! Its about that time in his career where he starts being smart! Very happy Wandy turned that fight down, or any other fight for that matter on short notice!
This was very smart on Wanderlei’s part. He needed more time to prepare for a guy like Vera, he’s gonna be a big LHW and he is going to give a lot of LHW’s problems. I’m with everyone else, I want to see Wandy vs. Rampage 3 and i am glad Wandy did the right thing by not taking this fight on short notice.
Are they trying to give Vera a win? WTF? How do you go from possibly Silva to this guy? Huge difference in calibur.
Boycott it, baby.
I think your joke will be lost on most people here.
I got it, goodone Mania…lol
Mania, when you get a chance please get my post out of Cyber-purgatory! lol
No boycott. This isnt MMAmanias boyfriend EliteXC!
Andy may not be at the same level as Silva (not even close), but he is no joke, Vera shoudn’t take him lightly.
I am happy that Vera will finaly take his lazy ass in the Sauna and cut weight. He should have been fighting at 205 the entire time. As for the fight, NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL! I have seen what Vera can do against B-level fighters. its no secret, he dominates them. I am still waiting to see him win aginst a guy actually relevant to the division….This fight wont prove anything to me except for what I already know, Vera should be a lightheavyweight.
At 205, they could have matched up Vera vs:
Sokoudjou
THiago Silva
Gorenj
Luiz Cane
Hammil
any of thyese opponents would be more interesting. Sorry Dana White, I dont think there is any fight that you can possibly book (for free) to get me to not watch Affliction.
I hope the rest of u support Affliction because competition is only best for the fans. A lil comp from Affliction and Dana is putting together free cards on short notice. THis will happen more often, giuving us more free events, and more stacked fight cards as long as Affliction continues to make a legit push at competing with the UFC.
Long Live Competition! Down with Monopoly!
Reese Andy fighting in the co-main event? WTF????
=
Reese looks ripped in that picture. How tall is he? I’d imagine he is giving up a few inches in height and reach.
I think that the PERFECT opponent for Brandon Vera in July would have been Goran Reljik. That’s a fight I’d love to see.
Gorenj would have made for a hell of an opponent. Even Soukoudjou would have done.
I dont know anything about Reese,, so I wont call him a can, but for sure he is not co-main event worry, especially if you are trying to get me to not watch Fedor vs. Sylvia! Thats a Big fight that means a lot! I dont remember the last meaningful heavyweight fight like this one!
feeding him reese is meant to be a tune-up fight, which i like for vera. its a new and even more stacked division than HW. After losing 2 in a row, they’re trying feed the guy a win so he becomes superstar status again when they do an event in the philipines. plus they probably don’t want to use up too many big names on this free event. Even more better if its a 1 sided beatdown by vera (hopefully cuz i’m a vera fan) - not to say that i’m counting andy reese out cuz he beat my boy kala hose, but i like vera starting off at the bottom and working his way up like he did @ HW to see if he didn’t get lucky cracks in, couple times in a row, against some of those big slow guys he TKOd when he burst on the scene. this event is going to be better than Bedlam! lol.
your nuts …Reese is going to break Vera down. hold on to your cash if your a betting man…just remember where you heard it…
D@mn right!! Down with Monopoly!!
B level? Reese has more international exposure than anyone on the card. 3 time all American is not a joke. That is just in college, he has world status. Vera better like to ground fight.
Because not everyone is jumping at the chance to get their ass kicked by Vera (including Wandy). Vera will be a wrecking machine at 205. Wandy was very smart, because he would lose to Vera.
sweeeet
205 just got more stacked.
this is not going to be a easy fight for vera
Especially if Dan ” I Call it Like No One Else Sees It’ Miragliotta is in the octogon. Then its 2 on 1.
you just hate everthing dont. you is this site just a way to reach out. its ok buddy let it all out
Lets see if this one gets deleted, since my other one did.
im done argueing with you but how do you think silva will fair against irvin
Im gonna pick Irvin. I like Silva in the middleweight division, but you cant count out a guy that put away Alexander like he did. That was the sickest and quickest punch Ive seen. It wasnt a fluke either. It was timed and Irvin was looking straight at him. Irvin by TKO.
Houston Alexander has hardly proved that he’s anything but a fluke himself. Irvin/Alexander didn’t even last ten seconds, and you’ve decided that he’s gonna’ beat A.Silva after all that he’s done to prove himself? Irvin by TKO?? Nutty.
Alexander didnt beat Jardine either right? The same Jardine that beat Forrest and Chuck right?
I don’t even like Jardine, but that Alexander win was a fluke. He has aggression, and not skill. Aggression only goes so far, as we have seen.
Now back to what you’ve avoided. It’s still surprising you have much faith in a fighter who has only proven himself against a flash in the pan named Houston Alexander. A.Silva should win this- he’s shown he is capable of beating other talented fighters.
The Sandman has a punchers chance of KO’ing Silva, but not much else. I don’t think he will even hit Silva to be honest though. Franklins hands are some of the fastest in the sport and Silva can dodge those easy. James just needs to hope for another Superman punch against a guy who isn’t an idiot that would walk straight into one. I’ve watched a good deal of the Sandmans fights because they are usually very entertaining and he just goes for one big KO hit, it’ll be telegraphed too much and Silva will embarrass him. I’m actually a little mad about this card seeing as I didn’t like EXC fixing fights for Kimbo and now the UFC gives Silva someone I think he’ll blast through as his next “real” challenge and Vera gets a newcomer to the UFC. Not that either of their opponents are cans but I just think both Silva and Vera take their fights easy.
WOW mexecutioner, what type of hard core drugs have you been doing lately??? You say that Irvin is going to KO Anderson Silva because he was able to KO Houston ALexander??? WHhoooaa. I just fell out of my chair backwards laughing so hard. So that means that you consider Houston Alexander a better fighter than ANderson Silva?
You should just go back to only typing “Boycott EliteXC” because when you try to make a normal comment, you truly show that you know NOTHING about MMA.
BOYCOTT THE MEXECUTINER’S COMMENTS!!!
BURN!!!!! in my best M<icheal Kelso Voice!
Piggyback BURN!!!!
dont count anyone out in any mma fight.. case in point matt serra koed gsp 1 fight
A fluke KO. Serra doesnt even look up when he swings. He should have played the lottery that week too.
doesnt matter it took him out didnt it
Yeah, it kind of does, which is why Serra couldnt defend his title against the same guy he won it from.
Don’t give GSP so much credit. It’s no fluke when you’re on your back tapping from punches. At least Serra took his ass kicking and stuck with it.
Watched Serra GSP 2 again last night, GSP was awsome in that fight. Serra did well to survive on the ground as long as he did, testimant to his Jits.
I think GSP in that form would beat Silva, Silva has been taken down regularly and i think GSP could hold him there and pound him out.
I know off subject.
You may well be right there. I remember Rogan saying that in training GSP could take down guys like Rashad Evans and his other training partners at will, but they could not do the same to him. That is very impressive.
I am not impressed.
GSP is scared to get KOd. Wait until he gets Alves. He’s really going to have mental problems then.
James Irvin vs Anderson Silva HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!1
nice to see vera fight soo quickly. Vera is gonna give this guy hell just because he is so pissed about the last fight..
Vera Tko rd 1
Silva took out Hendo with ease….Irwin has game but is no Hendo….Silva by ref stoppage in the 2nd…
Irwin the crocodile hunter?
Hendo won the first round on all score cards!
And he was doing quite well in round two until the knee that shouldn’t have rocked him, and then he got owned once he gave up his back…
Henderson won that first round by laying and praying. He did absolutely NO damage to Silva, who, in the second round, decided he wanted to end the fight, beat Henderson down and choked his ass out. Irvin will be extremely lucky to make it out of the second round as well. By the way, since this isn’t a title match, will there only be three rounds instead of five?
Yeah, only three rounds. But it doesn’t really matter because I don’t see this fight going past the first round. If Anderson is having his first fight at LHW, he is going to be out there to prove a point!
sorry *Irvin*
Whats with the MAYBE at the end???????
Is the event OFFICIAL?
nice! vera belongs at 205. he’s going to be sick at lhw!
Reese by TKO strikes
Ugh.
UFC needs more HW’s and less LHW’s.
I can’t be too stoked about this.
It boggles my mind that the next TUF is LW and LHW fighters, they’re gonna bring in another crop to mingle in their two most stacked divisions.
Why wouldn’t they use TUF to bring in tonnes of new HW fighters.
It’s the easiest way help pump up that division and they can instantly establish recognizable names and not have to pay millions of dollars for them.
coz all the hw on tuf would probably go down to lhw anyway like Rashad evans lol.
They need some big ‘uns like Lesnar and Carwin who can’t possibly drop to 205 but are more talented than the Hillbilly Heartthrob.
It worked pretty well with TUF 5 they supplied many tough LWs like Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard, Manny Gamburian, Cory Hill, Matt Wiman, Rob Emmerson, Cole Miller, and of course winner Nate Diaz
Reese is no joke, and this could be a tough fight for Vera. I guess Thiago or Cane did not accept this fight. Disappointing.
Vera’s a loser. He’s probably more suited to fighting for EliteXC.
I would have liked to have seen Vera matched up with Luis Cane or (I have no idea how to spell it) Golan Relijch. Both of those would have been exciting fights that Vera probibly could have won to establish himself as a lightheavyweight.
reese will tko vera by 2nd round. thank you!
Reese is the real deal, 3 time All american wrestler in college, not as easy as it sounds. Hope Vera is good off the ground.