Five years ago, UFC heavyweight sensation, Brandon Vera was the toast of the town. He was 4-0 in the UFC, with four brutal stoppages, and had just demolished former champion, Frank Mir.
To say Vera’s star was on the rise would be a colossal understatement.
A couple of losses later, and the undersized heavyweight departed the land of gargantuan men for the light-heavyweight division; which is not always a wise move considering that category is populated by semi-gargantuan men who are also quick and athletic.
With that move Vera lost not only his speed advantage, but his confidence and aggression as well.
Just as quickly as he had risen to stardom, he fell out of the sky.
Sure, Vera beat the guys he was supposed to beat, but he fell short against top competition. It was a fight against Thiago Silva that really put a bizarre cherry on top of his stunning descent.
Very was cut after posting three straight losses. But in a peculiar twist, Silva would go on to fail a drug test. He submitted a urinalysis that wasn’t human, and was fined and suspended.
Vera’s loss was changed to a No-Contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he was given another chance in the UFC.
He made the most of it by defeating Eliot Marshall in unimpressive fashion–again a guy he was supposed to beat.
Nothing wrong with that. A ‘W’ is a ‘W.’ And normally that would get him another fight against mid-level competition on the undercard. But due to a surprising series of circumstances, Vera will now face former light-heavyweight champion, Shogun Rua in the main event on the UFC on FOX 4.
Not a bad turn of events for a guy who was unemployed just a year ago.
This is Vera’s chance to get back on track.
Shogun is a rough night out for anyone not named “Bones,” but even just a good showing by Vera could get his name back into the general mixed martial arts discourse.
As much as MMA is an unforgiving sport, it’s also a sport where second, even third chances happen all the time. Sure, a fighter can suffer an injury that shelves him for a year. No fight, no pay. But one man’s misfortune is another man’s gain.
It’s because of the UFC’s latest injury bug, which in this particular case claimed Michael Bisping and Brian Stann, that Vera is in this position.
The circumstances that brought him to this place have been happenstance. The rest is up to Vera.
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