UFC on FOX 4: Does Brandon Vera Stand a Chance Against Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua?

By John Heinis on Friday, August 3rd 2012
UFC on FOX 4: Does Brandon Vera Stand a Chance Against Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua?

Remember when Brandon “The Truth” Vera began his UFC career with four stoppages, including a vicious knockout of former heavyweight champion Frank Mir?

If not, it’s understandable, because that was back at UFC 65 in Nov. 2006.

The Muay Thai specialist has looked like a shell of his former self since then, dropping consecutive fights to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum, respectively.

Many argue that Vera actually was more impressive as a heavyweight though, as his record at 205 pounds is a pedestrian 4-3-1. As a matter of fact, his last win over Elliot Marshall at UFC 137 was as unimpressive as someone could possibly look in victory.

Yet somehow, UFC president Dana White said whoever wins impressively in either Shogun vs. Vera or the co-main event, Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida, will get a rematch with Jon Jones.

How is Vera’s name in this conversation, considering he was embarrassed the worst by “Bones” out of the four light heavyweights? First, Shogun was scheduled to take on Thiago Silva at UFC 149, but Silva had to withdraw due to an injury he suffered in June.

Then, the UFC wanted to book Rua against Glover Teixeira. However, the former light heavyweight champion essentially decided that Teixeira wasn’t a big enough name to fight right now.

For whatever reason, Brandon Vera was next in line. How was he ahead of say, rising star Alexander Gustafsson in terms of 205-pound contenders? Well, he wasn’t but the UFC wanted to give Shogun a cupcake match up after the PRIDE veteran lost three of his past five.

Vera claims that he is flourishes as the underdog, but let’s be honest: he has one big win in his career and let’s be honest: that version of Frank Mir simply wasn’t a very good one.

Granted, if Vera was given the decision over UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 105, as most fans and analysts believed he deserved, there’s a good chance Vera would still be a legitimate title contender right now.

As luck would have it though, Couture won via unanimous decision and now Vera’s career has been on a downward spiral ever since. Can Vera win Saturday night? Sure he can, we all remember what happened when Georges St-Pierre faced Matt Serra for the first time at UFC 69 over five years ago.

Vera won’t win though. The worst version of Shogun is still better than the best version of Vera and that’s really all there is to it.

If Rua loses, he should be fired on the spot because he obviously has nothing left to give to this sport if that’s the case.

As a matter of fact, in that scenario, Vera should be fired too so that he, and the fans, can be sparred another savage, pointless beating at the hands of Jones.

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