Brandon Vera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brandon Vera | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | The Truth |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 225.5 lb (102.3 kg/16.11 st) |
| Born | October 10, 1977 |
| Fighting out of | San Diego, California |
| Town of birth | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Team/Association | Alliance MMA |
| Fighting style | Wrestling, Submission Wrestling, Muay Thai |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 8 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 1 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
Brandon Michael "The Truth" Vera (born October 10, 1977 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, currently fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a heavyweight. He currently resides in San Diego, California.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Vera is the son of a Filipino father, Ernesto, and an Italian-American mother, Amelia, and grew up in a family with seven boys and three girls. He was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia,[1] and attended Lake Taylor High School, where he excelled in wrestling and earned a four-year athletic scholarship to Old Dominion University. He however dropped out of Old Dominion after a year and a half when he felt college was not for him, and he enlisted in the United States Air Force.
In the Air Force, he joined the force's wrestling team and trained at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His military wrestling career was cut short in 1999 when he shred ligaments in his right elbow. Arthroscopic surgery repaired the ligaments but he had nerve damage from the experience, causing him to be unable to use his right arm. He was released from the Air Force on a medical discharge.
He returned to Virginia where he steadily rehabilitated his arm, and eventually was fit enough to enter the Grapplers Quest submission wrestling competitions on the east coast. There, his solitary training methods (he did not belong to a camp, and trained and cut weight on his own) caught the attention of Lloyd Irvin, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and coach, who invited him to train with his school. At Irvin's school, he was introduced to mixed martial arts.[1] He also trained with Linxx Academy, and Hybrid Academy, where he received a foundation of his Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[citation needed]
[edit] Mixed martial arts career
Vera's first professional mixed martial arts bout was on July 6, 2002, while training under Lloyd Irvin. He won the fight, against Adam Rivera, via TKO in the first round. He fought and won another bout in 2004 before entering a World Extreme Cagefighting heavyweight tournament in 2005, where he won two bouts in one night, including a bout against The Ultimate Fighter 2's Mike Whitehead in the finals.[2]
Vera moved to San Diego, California on New Year's Eve, 2003, to accept a training position with City Boxing in San Diego. At City Boxing, Vera excelled as a trainer and was taken under the wing of City Boxing owner Mark Dion, who became his manager and introduced him to kickboxing great Rob Kaman. With Vera's success as a trainer and a mixed martial arts fighter, Dion gave Vera partial ownership of City Boxing.[1]
Vera made his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 2 on October 3, 2005 against Fabiano Scherner. Vera won the fight via TKO mid-way through the second round. Following the Scherner bout, he faced Justin Eilers at UFC 57, winning early in the first round by knockout. At UFC 60, Vera defeated Assuerio Silva with a guillotine choke. Vera's career as a mixed martial artist flourished under the management of Mark Dion. It reached its zenith on Nov. 18, when he needed just 69 seconds to stop ex-heavyweight champion Frank Mir at UFC 65 in Sacramento, Calif.
White had been telling the media prior to UFC 65 that the winner of the Vera-Mir fight would face the winner of the Tim Sylvia-Jeff Monson fight, which was also being held that night, for the championship.[citation needed]
In August the UFC announced the "return" of Brandon Vera. His first fight was against Tim Sylvia at UFC 77.[1] Vera lost the fight via unanimous decision and also broke his left hand (4:40 minutes into the first round).
Vera lost his most recent fight against Fabricio Werdum by TKO at UFC 85. The fight was controversially stopped by referee Dan Miragliotta as Werdum was doing some ground and pound. After the stoppage Vera was visibly upset as he felt he was defending himself effectively.[3][4] Dan Miragliotta was the same referee involved a week prior in the controversial stoppage in the Kimbo Slice/James Thompson fight.
[edit] Personal life
Brandon's wife, Kerry, is a kickboxer. She was featured on the second season of Oxygen's Fight Girls.[5]
He has a tattoo on his back inked in the Filipino writing system called Alibata. Clockwise, it reads mundo (earth), hangin (wind), apoy (fire), and tubig (water).[6]
While staying in the Philippines, he trained Filipino actor Richard Gutierrez in martial arts and has been given a role as The Assassin for Philippine primetime television show Kamandag on the GMA Network.[7]
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 10 matches | 8 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 6 | 1 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 1 | 1 |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 8-2 |  Fabricio Werdum |
TKO (Punches) | UFC 85 - Bedlam | 7 June 2008 | 1 | 4:40 |  London, England |
| Loss | 8-1 |  Tim Sylvia |
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 77 - Hostile Territory | 20 October 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Ohio, United States |
| Win | 8-0 | Frank Mir |
TKO (Strikes) | UFC 65 - Bad Intentions | 18 November 2006 | 1 | 1:09 | California, United States |
| Win | 7-0 | Assuerio Silva |
Submission (Guillotine Choke) | UFC 60 - Hughes vs. Gracie | 27 May 2006 | 1 | 2:39 | California, United States |
| Win | 6-0 | Justin Eilers |
KO (Kick and Knee) | UFC 57 - Liddell vs Couture 3 | 4 February 2006 | 1 | 1:25 | Nevada, United States |
| Win | 5-0 | Fabiano Scherner |
TKO (Knees) | Ultimate Fight Night 2 | 3 October 2005 | 2 | 3:22 | Nevada, United States |
| Win | 4-0 | Mike Whitehead |
TKO (Injury) | WEC 13 - Heavyweight Explosion | 22 January 2005 | 2 | 1:12 | California, United States |
| Win | 3-0 | Andre Mussi |
KO | WEC 13 - Heavyweight Explosion | 22 January 2005 | 1 | 0:51 | California, United States |
| Win | 2-0 | Don Richard |
Decision (Unanimous) | NLF - Next Level Fighting | 13 September 2003 | 2 | 5:00 | Ohio, United States |
| Win | 1-0 | Adam Rivera | TKO | EEFC 11 - Excalibur Fighting 11 | 6 July 2002 | 1 | Virginia, United States |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Ollie. "Don't Fight Mad", San Diego Reader, 2007-02-08. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ Savage, Greg. "WEC: Heavyweight Explosion", Sherdog.com, 2005-01-03. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ Abs-Cbn Interactive, Vera loses to Werdum
- ^ 411mania.com, 411’s UFC 85: Bedlam Report 6.07.08
- ^ The Cast of Fight Girls. Oxygen Pressroom. Oxygen. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ de Guzman, Shad S.. Brandon Vera. Universal Reality Combat Championship. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ UFC warrior is now an actor in Kamandag. GMANews.tv. GMA Network Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
- Iole, Kevin (September 1, 2007). Undefeated Vera back on track. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
