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Dana White on Brandon Vera “He doesn’t have that killer instinct”
By CagE | October 20, 2008
“I’m not seeing what I expected from Brandon Vera. It’s like he’s lost something. He doesn’t have that killer instinct since he took that year off. He doesn’t go after people. He used to be so cocky. He wanted to fight everybody.
“We tried to get him on one of the seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and he turned that down and said he wanted to fight Chuck Liddell and that he would knock him out. I hear that seven days a week so I told him to go on TUF and we’d find out how good he was.
“He was good¿he used to walk through heavyweights earlier in his career. But he took a year off and we had all the issues with his contract and he hasn’t been the same since. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
Once the UFC’s heavyweight golden boy, Brandon “The Truth” Vera finds himself on the losing end of a split decision to Keith Jardine at UFC 89. Vera has posted a 1-3 record in has last four fights in the UFC and it that wasn’t bad enough, he how has the sport most vocal man and his boss commenting about his performance in the cage.
Related posts:
- UFC 101: Matt Hamill vs Brandon Vera
- Video: Keith Jardine Recaps Win Over Brandon Vera at UFC 89
- UFC 89: Keith Jardine vs. Brandon Vera Likely
Topics: Interview, News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) | 16 Comments »
October 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
That’s too bad. Vera used to be one of the most exciting HWs. I agree that he lost something, but I’m not giving up on him just yet. I hope he can make a comeback to fighter of old.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
hes been boring forever thanks Dana for backing up what i thought
October 20th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
It doesn’t sound like Dana is kicking him out of the UFC.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Vera is like Machida boring but the only thing is machida is winning and vera isnt.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
vera is just a sore loser. he wasn’t defending himself when he lost to werdum and then was a big crybaby about it. in every fight since his return, he keeps saying how he will be the best shape and that he will dominate his opponent. all that keeps happening is vera getting beaten and then the decision going into the judges’ hands. vera has lost a lot of that instinct. in a way, i think it sorta happened to wanderlei silva and matt hughes.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Good call derek, but I think Silva is getting it back. Yeah, Vera is just down right boring to watch now. I didn’t even think Jardine’s performance was that great.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
brandon is washed up.. i agree with Dana
October 20th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
i dont think vera is washed up werdum, jardine and sylvia are tough opponents. he’s goin through some hard times and im not a big vera fan but i think he will get back into winning. fighting’s a tough sport and when u have a string of loses everybody talks shit. look at wandy everyone was talkin trash and then he wins and now he’s god again. chuck was losing and everybody was talkin shit and sayin he was done then he beats wandy and everybody’s riding his nuts agains aying he’s gunna murder rashad in the first. i too thought he would kick rashads ass. now he gets knocked out and everybody thinks he’s a has been. mma fans can be very fickle. if everybody talked as much trash when a nba or an nfl team lost it would be rediculous.
October 20th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
im not saying vera is the amazing unbeatable fighter that he says he is. im just not sold that he’s washed up. he’s young and who knows where he will be 2 years from now. things in this sport changes very fast.
October 20th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
good point dane. we all know that randy came back better than ever AFTER chuck knocked him out twice. in mma anything can happen.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:26 am
Vera is nothing like Machida. He talks shit constantly and then delivers an uninspired performance. His defense sucks , he doesn’t use his kicks to his advantage and he’s convinced he’s got this one punch power. Not the least bit like Machida.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:28 am
I don’t think Vera has the heart to comeback stronger. He’s looking to blame someone instead of facing the truth. No pun intended.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:51 pm
i would like to see vera and chuck…seeing how both are coming off losses i think its a possible matchup in the future
October 24th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Brandon has very good skills in both stand up and on the ground. His problem is that he has no heart and is mentally weak. 75% of MMA is heart and mind. If his heart matched his mouth…he would be a world champ. Brandon…get off yourself…you are 1 or 2 losses away from being a former UFC fighter.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
All Brandon needs is that desire to win any way possible.
March 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
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