Props: Sports Illustrated
Quoteworthy:
“Brandon Vera, it’s like he lost something. That year off, I don’t know what it was. He doesn’t have that killer instinct, he doesn’t go after it. This kid used to be so cocky, and you know he wanted to fight everybody…. He was good, he was walking through heavyweights. Took that year off, all the contract stuff, hasn’t been the same guy since. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
UFC President Dana White sounds puzzled after Brandon Vera lost his third fight in four attempts against Keith Jardine at UFC 89: “Bisping vs. Leben” on October 18. “The Truth” is clearly struggling since his return from a long layoff because of management and contract issues. He’ll likely be the centerpiece of a Phillipines invasion sometime in 2009 — Vera referred to himself as receiving an Elvis-like reception when he visits his homeland. Whether or not he sees action before then remains to be seen. His loss to “The Dean of Mean” was his third fight in four months.
62 Comments »
Its true. Vera looked very lackluster, trying not to lose instead of trying to win.
Did he ever have it though? Eilers, Assuerio, Mir? Mostly cans from what i see. He can’t hang with top competition from what he’s shown. Or maybe the whole “hostage” thing last week psyched him out.
Mir a can! my lord u are stupid
Not a can at all–but it was his comeback fight from being out for a long time after his motorcycle accident.
Mir in that fight was way over his normal weight and didn’t have any hop in his step. Beating Mir in that condition is not as impressive as if he challenged Mir now.
What are you talking about? Mir came in ripped for that fight, but he didn’t try to take Vera down, rather standup and bang with him and we all know who the better striker is.
Am I the only one who realizes that Frank Mir’s entire career has been a smoke screen based on him breaking silvia’s (worst ju jitsu game in the world) arm? Give me a break, you guys should know better! Mir is an OUTStanding Grappler, but a pretty average mma fighter. Has anyone ever seen him not gassed by the 2nd round? He is basically, a heavyweight travis Lutter! This guy has only 2 recent wins:
He submitted Hardonk (No big Deal, Hardonk is like a whitebelt on the ground)
and he submitted Brock in his 2nd fight EVER with the assistance of Mazzagatti!
Frank mir: MOST OVERated creation of the UFC marketing hype Machine!
How this Noodle is getting a title shot is beyond me!!!!
Brotha.. I totally agree with you..
Great comparison to Travis Lutter.. Yep .. Mir is the HW version of Lutter.
Mir lost all my respect.. just for how he disrespected the Legend Big Nog..
what gets me is.. Mir said in the coaches countdown.. that Nog was his hero.. and during that last episode of TUf.. Is that how you treat your Hero? I don’t..
Mir knows BJJ.. without adoubt.. but in the world of MMA as John pointed out.. has not done much. I will not take his statis of former UFC HW Champ from him.. granted.. he won it.
Mir comes off a bit Hughesnessless with his kind of jock type of mentality.. I hope Nog GnP him for 3 and a half round.. and snaps something.. and takes a leg or an arm.. back down to Rio.
you two aren’t even worth my time. If you honestly think Mir is a farce then you obviously don’t know what talent is.
I can’t wait to see what you two say when Mir takes out your boy Noguiera. Just wait.
..well we’re worth enough time to get a response from you.
Mir cant beat Nogueira!!!! What the hell has Mir done besides beat Tim sylvia?
Not a damn thing.
Which of his wins is supposed to impress me?
THe Hardonk fight who has less ground game than me?
The Brock fight where he was saved by the ref after being destroyed by a new comer making his UFC debut?
The Pan de Pano fight where he get beat up?
The Pete Williams fight back in the day? He caught him with a basic arm lock.
The Wes Simms fight? Hahaha lol Give me a break!
His entire career has been a smoke screen created by the UFC marketing Machine. He is without a doubt one of the best Heavyweight grapplers, but even in jits he takes a back seat to guys like Werdum, Nogueira, maybe even GOnzaga.
mir gasses after 1 round and you actually believe that he is going to defeat one of the greatest Legends of our sport who has NEVER been finished?
Myguess is Anthony will disappear for a bit after Nog KO’s Mir,,, I predict KO by 2nd rnd.
John.. I agree with Thorazine.. I see Nog beating the crap out of Mir.. till maybe his corner throws in the towell or till Mir’s head hits the floor. Now with the TUF..under way.. I really really want to see Nog.. woop his ass.
PhilQNY, John - thank you for your knowledgeable analysis and view on MMA. Every one else please shut the hell up. Mir’s fast subs on cans and people afraid of being hit was hyped into the stratosphere and now he thinks he can contend with Nog. Herring would have beat the living piss of out him.
This is Brandon Vera… He’s basically a front runner.. all fighters have to stand a test of wars, Vera’s not able to do that… he fought scared against Silvia and is tenative when the fights been kicked up to top 10 or 5 type fighters.. he’s worried about getting hit or KO’d.
Does anyone believe for one second he is recieved like “Elvis” in the Phillipines? At the most, I would say maybe the drummer for Stix.
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!
im from the philippines.and in this country we have been watching the UFC since ufc 1..so were big fight fans..so naturaly popular ufc fighters who go here get a warm reception..but Vera claiming to have an elvis reception is GREATLY Exaggerated!!! chuck lidell came here a month a go and he had more fans then Vera(even thou bradon is half filipino) also Batista and the undertaker,got a lot lot more fans than vera…filipinos like manny pacquiao because he’s all heart and all guts!!! but they dont admire a fighter who dosent have a big heart(like Vera)
Valid argument by tHorazine! U r right, he has yet to win a WAR and thats a big problem. Fighters need to prove that they can win Wars in order to take that next step and Vera hasn’t done so!
Vera needs to stop worrying about being taken down, go out there and just BANG! He needs to use the 8 points of muy Tai and let the strikes Fly!
I say match him up against an aggresve striker like Sokoudjou for his next fight!
That would be a gift. Sokoudjou sucks. Just like Rogan said this weekend - all you have to do is get passed the initial onslaught and then he gases. He looked good physically. He didn’t gas, no weight cutting issues, but you’re right Vera needs to stop being so scared and the more he’s lost, the more pressure he feels the more he seems to have performance anxiety. He needs to just let loose.
That’s what I say John, match him up against someone that will make him fight, or get KTFO. Someone that won’t let him sit there waiting for the perfect shot (that never comes).
and still jardine gets no respect lol. He should be saying what a tough sob jardine continues to be beating forrest, lidell, and now vera! maybe vera needed to face more quality competition like he has been the last few fights to really prove what kind of fighter he was going to be. i like vera but what is going to happen to him if he loses his next fight? i think you are going to see an even more reserved vera in his next fight, and that cant be good.
seahawks is as gay as SOCCER!!!LOL
I agree but the same things were being said about AA, wouldn’t be shocked if he beat Fedor. Some fighters go through low periods and then rebound.
True, but it is usually 1 maybe 2, very rarely 3 fights. Vera is on his 4th. However I thought he was looking pretty good against Werdum. Werdum is a beast and he was bringing it that fight. If he doesn’t do something spectacular his next fight,I don’t know how much longer the UFC will keep him around.
you know it’s bad news when your boss is talking about you like that. I liked vera so much at the beginning of his career, now I find him just boring to watch, almost like he’s fighting just for the enormous paycheck he now gets!
yo.. kev.. I told you about Jardine… in this match up. =)
Vera didn’t have a chance. No one stands a chance against the nipple twisting.
Haha. the nipple twisting does seem to be quite effective. But, however Vera did stand a chance against Jardine. It was a very close fight.
vera has looked very hesitant to let his hands go in any of his past four fights, he use to be a fighter who would come out and let his hands go and trust his instincts. Now he seems to have lost his swagger and confidence, he went from saying he would knock out chuck liddell before his first ufc fight to saying one of us is going to get knocked out against jardine u dont go into a fight thinking your going to get knocked out. vera needs to regain his swagger get back to being the shit talker and just fight to win instead of fighting not to lose because when he fights to win he in nearly instoppable.
Vera has changed his game plan and I think he is too patient ala Roger Huerta against Florian, you cant do that these two guys are head hunters, you cant change the game plan that drastically, just evolved in your defense more head movement and foot work to try to avoid as much punishment. If I was Vera I wouldnt care if they took me down his ground game look sick. He gave out more punishment when he was in the bottom than he received. Maybe his old trainer/manager wasnt that bad he had Vera undefeated as well as we have seen what he has done with KJ Noons, that guy should just be a trainer and not a manager because he cant juggle the manager part of it, as he always seems to get his fighters into some type of drama with the organizations they are fighting under.
Vera fights differently b/c he’s facing better competition and can’t handle it. His only notable win was against Frank Mir and everyone knows Mir wasnt himself for the fight. After Andre Arlovski got ktfo by Silvya, he’s been a different fighter. Vera either needs to fight some really weak talent or he’s basically just not that good. Most likely he wont be a force at lhw since there are soo many in that division.
vera looks small at 205
they said he didnt cut weight so perhaps 185 is the way forward
his wins at HW were over mediocre fighters… but at least back then he came to fight
i was screaming at the tv in the jardine fight he refused to engage and let his hands and feet fly
they wont keep him around and pay him the amount he negotiated with performances like the last 4
sokojou on the other hand looked amazing for about 3 minutes, if only he could get conditioning… i thought working with lindland and hendo would mean he didnt gas in the first round
He did look small at 205, but I think the answer is for him to put on some muscle instead of just losing more weight. He’s never looked particularly strong, and I think he would benefit a lot from some strength training.
Vera looked weak and spindly physically. At 6′2″ and 205, he should be able to carry a little more muscle. Thin is OK, but Vera looked kind of depleted with very little muscle tone. Shoot…Jardine is the same height, but the contrast was quite obvious.
Yea but if he fights like he did against Jardine, even the 185’s will walk through him. he looked like it was first fight in any weight class!
I agree with you….disagree with Joe Rogan, Sokojou needs to work on his cardio but its not becuase he has muscle mass. If that’s the case than Sherk and GSP should be gassed at the end of rd 1. I think he mentally breaks down after he doesn’t score the quick ko.
i just sat there amazed at how even for being high he looked like he was fighting in slow motion…. he just wouldn’t snap any of his strikes…. it was pretty disheartening
Id have to agree with White here. Vera has been one of the most disappointing fighters in quite some time. I thought this guy had a chance to be the heavyweight and light heavyweight champ at the same time when he came out on the scene knocking guys out left and right in under a minute and now it just seems as if he’s hesitant and fighting not to lose. I still keep rooting for him because he was one of my favorite fighters but I just don’t know what happened to him, I know he hadn’t fought as good of talent in the past as he has recently but it just doesn’t look like the same guy out there.
I agree with everthing you say about his potential when he burst on the scene his first 3 or 4 fights, he had me convinced as well.
Me too.
I never thought Vera was that strong physically!! He is a good kick boxer but no one is afraid of his hands.
Reminds me of Vitor
All that could have been…
I never seen him at the start of his career! all ive seen is his last 4 and id 100 per cent agree with Dana he doesnt have it in him anymore.
i agree :(, i was waiting for that explosion from him the whole fight, i dont know what it is, its sad to see this happen as he is one of my favourites as well, i know keith is dangerous but come on, the old brandon would have KO’ed him nicely.
brandon “the truth” vera, the truth is you STINK and youre over rated, mi glad keith jardine SPLIT DECISIONED you, haw haw haw,
He got rockstar. Compare it to some baseball or football players. They do all they need to do and play with no regard for themselves while they are rookies because they want the big contract and to make a name for themselves. Then they get the big money and suddenly they start protecting their investment. The problem is deep seeded. It is not that they don’t want to let it go but the minute you stop playing or fighting for love of the game, the purity of any sport, then you natural instinct goes. Very few players or athletes will play with rookie heart once they get the check. MMA fighters are becoming the face of sports. There are very few sports fans that can’t name at least a few MMA stars. Vera is going to have to fight like he used to, with rookie heart and if he gets ko’d he ge ko’d but he gave the fight his all…
Vera looked better at HW. Jardine should go to 185lbs…LMAO!!!
Did u guys hear that b4 this fight happened, Vera asked the UFC for more money?
Does any1 think he’d be worth more money now? This is a serious question.
Didn’t hear that but I wouldn’t even have wanted to pay him at all for the performance he turned in Sat. night. Vera used to bring it. Not taking anything away from Jardene, but if Vera would fight like he used to, he would beat Jardene 8 out of 10 times IMO. I don’t think it has anything to do with the competition. You have to come to fight no matter who your fighting and he hasn’t came to fight since he fought big Timmy. Any top 10 LHW would easily beat him right now the way he is fighting.
The only Elvis type comment Vera deserves is “Vera has left the building.”
haha
Oh shit..
I thought you were going to say something about Vera’s next opponet should be Elvis Sinosic. LOL.
….hey….u know what…maybe it should be….
sinosic damn near beat bisping….that shows all you englanders how great fn’ bisping is…vera would blow through bisping .
im through wit Vera. He is costing me to much money.
Watch, now he will change as soon as you bet against him and cost you even more money,lol. You just can win with Vera anymore.
im from the philippines and a filipino.and i can tell you he did have a warm reception..but an elvis kind of reception??? comonn.. chuck lidell batista and the undertaker had more fans than him(when they came here)..only manny pacquiao gets the elvis like reception over here…
i can tell you the filipino fans are now not interested with Vera not because he lost but because he lacks the Heart of a warrior…and makes too many excuses
i hate brandon vera. he sucks, and his imature attitude sucks
I felt he did enough to win against Jardine. He definitely lost round 1 but he won the last 2.