can they handle 'the truth'?

Lord Muck

Sorry bout the lack of interview source;Brandon ‘the truth’ Vera mentioned in a recent interview he intends to win the LHW and HW belts, then he wants to retire and say ‘I told you so’ to the doubters.I’m an awful man for hype( I even had Bisping to beat Hendo…..i know, I know) , but I really believed this guy was the next big thing after he beat Mir. He then looses to Tim Silva, and the career spirals a little bit, he was booed during his bout Jardine. He seemed to be back in good form during his last fight, showing great leg kicks and striking. If he beats the Polish Experiment in his next fight, is he good enough to go on and beat the top LHW guys. Or was he only ever just an over hyped pin up boy to get UFC into the Filipino market ( similar to Bisping in the UK)

Killme00

No.

Machida, Rua, Rampage, Hendo, Franklin and even Evans would eat him alive.

OV

Personally I think he is over hyped and too lazy to ever mount a serious challenge at either weight, never mind both.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/08/20/09/brandon-vera-no-more-talking-no-more-questioning

Brandon Vera is tired of all the talking. It is very easy to imagine the typical Vera training sessions as intense mental battles where talking, save light colloquialisms with teammates, is a punishment. Be clear, Vera loves the MMA public. Had it not been for you, me and the world, his highlight reels wouldn’t be celebrated nor his progress considered a beacon for MMA’s bright future. Still when the talking constantly revolves around doubt on his abilities as an athlete and whether he still has that ‘thing’ that made the fans ooze star struck at his very mention, Vera is not much of a conversationalist with the media these days.

“Being hungry, and being broke. No bull,” says Vera when asked why he thinks he became an instant fan and media darling once his brand of fighting was exposed. Vera is one of those kismet stories that arise in sports entertainment every so often when the stars align just right for an instant page turning story. For him it started out just being a fan.

“I watched Randy Couture and Matt Lindland and all those guys fight on TV, and I was like man, that’s cool. I’ve been a fan since the beginning, since before Royce (Gracie). I didn’t even know who Royce was.”

Starting his professional career in 2002, Vera made a name fairly early for himself when it started to become pretty clear he wasn’t a fan of long-distance or lay-and-play styled fighting. With his first win being a first round knockout over Adam Rivera, Vera began a vicious winning trend that wouldn’t end for a while. Next a unanimous decision victory led to two stoppage victories over Andre Mussi and Mike Whitehead, where he walked away with the vacant World Extreme Cagefighting heavyweight championship.

In true dramatic rising star fashion, Vera exited the WEC as its new undefeated heavyweight champion to enter the UFC’s Heavyweight major leagues. That exodus could have spelled the end of a promising career if the larger world-class ranks of the UFC proved too much this early in his career. Adding to the pressure on the night of his Octagon debut on October 3, 2005 was the headline encounter featuring David “The Crow” Loiseau and former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner, who was fresh from a belt loss to Rich “Ace” Franklin. However the debutant took full advantage over fellow UFC newcomer Fabiano Scherner, resulting in a second round TKO in Vera’s favor.

The three fights that followed cemented Vera as the new kid to watch as he scored three consecutive first round wins in exciting fashion. The most intriguing element of those wins were whom they were over and how he beat them: Justin Eilers (KO), Assuerio Silva (guillotine choke) and Frank Mir (TKO by strikes). However, these glorious episodes would be briefly overshadowed by two losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum that made the standout’s “stock” fall considerably and saw Vera exit the UFC’s illustrious heavyweight division.

“It wasn’t hard to drop to 205,” said Vera. “The UFC asked me, I said yes, and I did it. I cut the weight. Cutting the weight was easy, but performing in that weight class was hard. That was the hardest part, performing at that weight when I haven’t cut in probably eight years.”

The recipient of that weight cutting effort was Reese Andy, who was on a four fight win streak with his most recent win over Vera’s upcoming opponent, Krysztof Soszynski. The unanimous decision victory was bittersweet for Vera and contributed, however small, to the now existent doubt.

“That fight sucked; that fight sucked bad. My performance was horrible and it didn’t build any confidence (as a light heavyweight) at all.”

Vera’s next loss to Keith Jardine didn’t help the confidence building factors any, either. Slowly the pressure began to mount again and his next bout against Mike Patt at UFC 96 in March became career judgment day. So when the second round came to a halt with the referee stopping Vera’s ferocious Muay Thai attack, the fight went down in the books as a TKO win, providing a little revenge towards the nameless, faceless multitude who doubted. After all, strip away the fight hype and media buzz, and Vera is still a lover that can be jilted when the recipients of his ardor don’t reciprocate.

“I guess I got tired of people guessing about me,” he said. “I was tired of people wondering whether or not I’m good or whether or not I’m doing all right. They were wondering if I suck or not, and I just wanted to show everybody that I am who I am and that I’m still trying to hurt people.”

So here he stands at the crossroads of light heavyweight immersion and popular misconceptions while his newest opponent is experiencing what was usually a Vera trademark: standout status. Krzysztof Soszynski is by all accounts the veteran in this matchup with an impressive 19-9-1 professional record. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada product has put in time on the local circuit and now the UFC, and with wins over notable fighters like Dan Christison, Jason Day and Lee Mein it was no wonder that he was selected to The Ultimate Fighter Season 8. It was also no surprise when he started doing really well.

“He’s a southpaw, he’s strong as hell – he used to be a heavyweight – and he trains with a good camp at Team Quest,” said Vera of ‘The Polish Experiment’. “All of those guys are in shape, and he’s going to be in shape. I’ll have to use both Muay Thai and keep my distance using head and leg kicks. With Krzysztof it’s going to be an inside and an outside fight, so we’re going to have to use both.”

With this now being the battle of the rising stars, Vera hopes to quiet the critics and answer the questions the way he knows best, with his performance inside the Octagon. And when it’s all said and done just like his time in the WEC, he wishes to make his exit reflect a subtle statement.

“I’ll hold both belts – light heavyweight and heavyweight – and then I’ll call it a day. I’ll tell everybody “I told you so,” and I’ll just walk out and call it a day and be done with it.”