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[Warchief]

Brandon Vera has watched the tape over and over again. It’s the first exchange of the fight. He steps forward with a jab, meets Tim Sylvia’s oncoming face, and slides into the clinch.

“My thumb got caught and pulled back like a banana,” he says.

It was a trivial shot, but it quickly derailed him. He thought it was dislocated and tried to re-set the thumb mid-fight.

“I held my breath and pulled it real hard and it didn’t go back in,” he continues. “I finished the first round, went back to my coaches, who were like ‘(expletive) your left hand, you don’t need it! Use your right hand.’ I was like cool, I won’t use my left hand.”

Vera had broken his scaphoid, a cashew-sized bone that keeps the thumb from bending too far towards the wrist.

The searing pain in his digit prevented him from putting together any combinations, which prevented him from letting his kicks fly freely. He felt like a lame duck.

“I wanted to punch Tim so hard,” he says. “I should have just kept touching and moving, instead of trying to light him up early. He started hitting me; I couldn’t hit him back. I started throwing short elbows to try and catch him on his way in. I sucked. That was one of the most boring fights ever. I’m ashamed to have been a part of it.”

Vera wanted surgery immediately. His doctor told him he might have to stabilize the hand with a screw. When he woke up from the procedure, he had three.

The UFC wanted Vera to fight on its March 1 card in Columbus, Ohio, but he says May is the earliest he could re-emerge.

“The weekend after the fight, I still couldn’t pick up a plate of food,” he says. “We’re hoping for the best. I wish they would put me with Tim again, but it looks like I’m going to climb up the ladder again. I don’t care who they put me with, I’m banging. I’ll make sure not to punch so hard in the beginning; I’ll make sure I use up all the rounds.”

In the mean time, Vera makes the nine-mile bike ride every day to his Chula Vista gym, Alliance MMA, teaching classes to eager students. He works on the things he can. At home, he distracts himself with remote control racecars, watching his dog chase them around the house.

When asked about his thoughts on the upcoming heavyweight title fight between Silva and Minotauro Nogueira, he’s hesitant to talk about it. It still upsets him.

“It’s really hard to look at,” he says. “Coulda, shoulda, woulda been me, so it sucks.”

Vera is 30 and has five fights left on his UFC contract, so father time isn’t exactly knocking on his door, but like his previous layoff from the Octagon, the fight with Sylvia has been a forced lesson in patience.

Source




May is not long to me, but it sucks that we wont see him in March 1 in Columbus, Ohio.

[jlruthven84]

That would set up perfectly for either Gonzaga, Werdum, or Lesnar if he beats Mir.

[foutch550]

Oh yeah...Cincy loved Vera. I too was hoping to see him back by March. I was thinking that Werdum would be a good matchup for Vera also. Who may Vera be matched up with once he returns?

[Warchief]

Originally Posted by foutch550

Who may Vera be matched up with once he returns?

To Be Anounce, Gonzaga or Werdum would be an exciting match...but i will pick Eddie Sanchez first before those guys.

[jlruthven84]

Originally Posted by Warchief

To Be Anounce, Gonzaga or Werdum would be an exciting match...but i will pick Eddie Sanchez first before those guys.

Wouldn't mind seeing Sanchez get massacred.

[Warchief]

Originally Posted by jlruthven84

Wouldn't mind seeing Sanchez get massacred.

Me too lol, Vera suffered a first loss againts Timmy...i just want his confidense back.

[twankydawg]

Originally Posted by Warchief

Me too lol, Vera suffered a first loss againts Timmy...i just want his confidense back.

Confidence via KO by brutal knees sounds goods to me!

[ArMnHC]

i question Vera's drive to be a top fighter. he looked like crap in the 1st round before he even broke his hand.

a co-worker of mine is actually a good friend of Brandon's. and they even all said that his work ethic sucks and that a big reason why he had such a long lay off from the cage was cuz he simply didnt want to fight. and they also constantly tell him he should drop to 205 LOL. i take it for what its worth, but whatever.

if he comes back a "Mir's" his next opponent in devastating fashion, then ill be a mark again

[Warchief]

^^^^ ^^^^^

[grhunt]

they should put him in there with arlovski, that would be one hell of a match-up with either guy getting a knockout