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UFC on FOX 4: Does a Fight with Vera Make Any Sense for Shogun?

It seems everyone had an opinion on the UFC’s decision to match Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the main event at UFC on Fox 4 against Brandon Vera this Saturday. Most of those were detractors wondering why a legit top-five light heavyweight…

The fact that this fight is taking place at all and that the winner is being touted as the next title contender is a testament to the poor state of the division rather than of the skills of the fighters themselves.

Jon Jones wiping out of all the top light heavyweight contenders, leaving some of the most experienced and well-heeled fighters in the world as also-rans, is wholly responsible for this state of affairs.

After Dan Henderson, there are few fighters left at that weight class worthy of a shot. Jones has cleaned out the division and those upcoming stars waiting in the wings, such as Alexander Gustafsson and Phil Davies, still lack the experience and need another win against a top-five opponent to be considered contenders.

That leaves division stalwarts such as Rua and Lyoto Machida, men who’ve already tasted defeat at the hands of Jones, fighting for a shot.

But what exactly does a win against such a perfunctory character in the UFC, such as Vera, do for Rua’s stock?

It’s no secret that the Brazilian was originally offered fellow countryman Glover Teixeira but refused the fight—either because he was scared of a potential loss or didn’t feel that win would bring him anywhere closer to the title.

That belief is clearly misplaced. Despite his deeper history in the organisation, Vera’s cache is hardly greater than Teixeira’s. And if Dana White is hinting that a win against the Filipino-American would bring Rua a title shot, then there’s no reason to believe that a win against Teixeira would not have done the same.

After a storm of protest on Twitter, White rescinded his promise that the victor between Rua and Vera would get a shot, instead giving that honour to any one of the light heavyweights who proves himself with a dominant victory on Saturday.

That fact alone shows what little worth a win over Vera is regarded by the wider UFC fanbase. But, at the same time, it means that Vera is considered a much easier fight for Rua. And, considering that there is no obvious next contender to fight for the title, Rua will find it much easier to dominate and prove himself against Vera than he would have against the relatively unknown and dangerous Teixeira.

UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera is taking place on August 4, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

For more from me, follow me on Twitter: @khurramaziz1981

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UFC on FOX 4: Power Ranking the 4 Possible Challengers to Jon Jones

It was only about a week ago that fans were looking at UFC on FOX 4 with a bit of disappointment as a seemingly unimportant main event between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon Vera was set to headline the network television fight card. We…

We later learned that the winner of the Rua-Vera fight would be the No. 1 contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

While that added some interest to the fight card, many fans were very frustrated with Vera—who had only won one of his previous four fights—being a potential challenger for Jon Jones. Those against the decision flooded Twitter, imploring UFC President Dana White to reconsider.

On Tuesday afternoon, the fans’ wishes were granted as White announced that the most impressive winner of the two fights between Brandon Vera and Shogun Rua, and between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, would be the one who gets the next UFC title fight.

With all four fighters now in play for a shot at Jon Jones, the conversation can now begin—who is the most likely fighter to leave UFC on Fox 4 as the No. 1 contender for Jon Jones’ UFC title?

To answer that question, here is a power ranking of each of the four contenders and their likelihood to be Jon Jones’ next opponent.

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9 Olympic Occurences More Likely to Happen Than Brandon Vera Beating Shogun Rua

(If you must ask, Dana, I believe my hype train was headed in that general direction. Then again, it’s been so long since I’ve seen it…)

If you’re anything like us, you’ve more than likely spent your weekend drinking either Budweiser or Miller High Life cans in front of your television whilst watching various Olympic events and screaming “America!” on loop until your Canadian or Russian neighbors got jealous and called the police, who in turn tried to claim that you are somehow at fault if you like to watch TV in the nude and can’t afford curtains. And indeed, the Olympics have successfully managed to captivate and connect its viewing audience as it always does, uniting entire communities over a common passion. Except, oddly enough, in the case of this year’s host country, wherein failure apparently opens you up to disturbingly hateful critiques from your own countrymen.

Switching gears, it seems that one thing we can all agree on, regardless of our cultural divisions, is the inherent ridiculousness in the possibility that Brandon Vera could somehow receive a title shot if he is able to defeat Mauricio Rua in impressive fashion, or vice versa. We know we’ve been a little hard on him today — it’s not like it was his decision to overhype a fight by implying title implications only to be reamed out by fans for doing so shortly thereafter, that was Dana White — but on the short list of contenders currently in the Light Heavyweight Division, Vera is just a step above Mostapha al-Turk, whom you may recall is a retired heavyweight who was released from the UFC over two years ago. And he’s fighting Shogun f*cking Rua, aka the man who ended The Machida Era. Arguably twice.

Spoiler: There is no way in hell that Vera is beating Shogun this Saturday, and we’d be willing to wager a bottle of ipecac on it, if you know what we mean. So in honor of what has been a highly competitive Olympic games thus far, and what will surely be a one sided ass whooping at UFC on FOX 4, here are 10 things, ranked in no particular order, we will more than likely see happen at this year’s Olympics than “The Truth” beating “Shogun” on Saturday.

(If you must ask, Dana, I believe my hype train was headed in that general direction. Then again, it’s been so long since I’ve seen it…)

Switching gears, it seems that one thing we can all agree on, regardless of our cultural divisions, is the inherent ridiculousness in the possibility that Brandon Vera could somehow receive a title shot if he is able to defeat Mauricio Rua in impressive fashion, or vice versa. We know we’ve been a little hard on him today – it’s not like it was his decision to overhype a fight by implying title implications only to be reamed out by fans for doing so shortly thereafter, that was Dana White — but on the short list of contenders currently in the Light Heavyweight Division, Vera is just a step above Mostapha al-Turk, whom you may recall is a retired heavyweight who was released from the UFC over two years ago. And he’s fighting Shogun f*cking Rua, aka the man who ended The Machida Era. Arguably twice.

1. The United States Basketball Team Losing to Tunisia

2. Trampoline Being Taken Seriously

3. Micheal Phelps Drowning in the Mens 4×200 Relay

4. Anybody Giving a Fuck About Race Walking

5. Michelle Jenneke accepting my back-massage offer. (I GIVE THE BEST ONES!)

6. North Korea Declaring War on England for Mixing Up Their Flag With South Korea’s

Honestly, this one is very, VERY likely to happen.

7. This Kid Winning Gold in Men’s Fencing

8. Ye Shiwen’s Steroid Tests Coming Back Absolutely, 100% Clean

9. Any “Fab Five”-Based Discussion Not Devolving Into a Pedophilia-Based One

Feel free to give us your own Olympic predictions that are more likely than a Vera upset in the comments section.

–J. Jones

Brandon Vera Actually Cares About “Shogun” Rua Fight, Says Jon Jones Isn’t “Some Young Punk” Anymore…wait, WHAT?!

And yet he STILL hasn’t learned that only tools wear Affliction…

We’re just a few days away from UFC on FOX 4, which will be headlined by arguably the most confusing contender fight in modern UFC history. While most fans can kind of justify Shogun earning a title shot with a victory given his track record (especially if Hendo manages to put away Jones at UFC 151), Brandon Vera remains a gigantic question mark. With his most notable victory being a TKO over heavyweight Frank Mir back in 2006, it’s hardly a surprise that most fans and pundits are completely unable to make sense of this bout even headlining the card, yet alone being for a title shot.

If Brandon Vera attempted to justify all of this through his appearance on “Inside MMA,” he ended up just raising even more questions. Case in point: Vera talked about his training camp leading up to his bout with “Shogun” Rua. Aside from bringing back his Muay Thai coaches and sparring with Alexander Gustafsson, Vera commented that he was “doing the things he should have been doing since day one.” Specifically, he’s actually caring now about his career. As he told the “Inside MMA” crew:

And yet he STILL hasn’t learned that only tools wear Affliction…

If Brandon Vera attempted to justify all of this through his appearance on “Inside MMA,” he ended up just raising even more questions. Case in point: Vera talked about his training camp leading up to his bout with “Shogun” Rua. Aside from bringing back his Muay Thai coaches and sparring with Alexander Gustafsson, Vera commented that he was ”doing the things he should have been doing since day one.” Specifically, he’s actually caring now about his career. As he told the “Inside MMA” crew:

“I should have been caring, man. I should’ve understood that I fight in the UFC, where the greatest fighters from around the world congregate to compete for the number one spot. And I didn’t treat it like that for a long time. I didn’t treat it like that at all. So, I understand where I’m at now. I understand.”

Is it just me, or is this a Karo “Too Talented to Train” Parisyan level cop-out? Are we really to believe that “The Truth” was just coasting his way to an 8-5 (1) record against the toughest competition in our sport? Before you answer that, though:

“After a while, I probably stated that people should just lose because my name was Brandon Vera. My name was ‘The Truth.’ You lose because of who I was, not because of what I was doing or putting into the sport. Not what I was putting into the bank, how hard I was training or the hours I was putting in.”

On second thought, THAT is a Karo “Too Talented to Train” Parisyan level cop-out. Seriously, that’d make Tim Sylvia roll his eyes, and he tried to pull the “Do you know who I am?” card after getting his ass kicked by Abe Wagner.

What’s especially confusing about this is that a victory over Brandon Vera hasn’t meant anything in nearly six years. Since 2007, Vera has gone 4-5 (1) and has been saved twice from the chopping block by dropping a weight class and by an opponent’s positive steroid test. For him to have been pulling the “Do you know who I am” schtick the entire time is unbelievably pathetic. We’re talking Scott Hall in Fall River pathetic.

Besides, we’ve heard this hype from him before, and we’ve seen just how badly it ended. To be fair to Vera, that will happen when you’re in the cage with Jon Jones. That will also happen when you’re convinced that “Bones” is “just some young punk.” Via MMAWeekly:

“The very first time I fought Jon Jones, I thought he was just some young punk and I didn’t respect him at all. I got what I deserved. If and when I do get a chance to fight Mr. Jones again, I promise he’ll have my full and undivided attention.”

Oh for God’s sake. You’re in the UFC. Every opponent should have your full and undivided attention. And not that I’m calling Vera a liar, but it’s easier to claim that you didn’t care after a loss than it is to just admit that your opponent was just that much better than you (especially if you’re fighting for a rematch with said opponent). But I digress.

So now that you’ve been told that the unspectacular “Truth” you’ve been watching was simply buying his own hype, do you believe it? Does Vera come out looking better than ever against Rua, or does he get crushed, only to make new excuses? Let us know what you think.

Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera: The Rematch No One Wants to See After UFC on FOX 4

When news broke Monday that the UFC on Fox 4 headliner between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Brandon Vera will determine a No. 1 contender to challenge current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the MMA world let out a collective groan in frustr…

UFC President Dana White then amended that news, noting that the winner of Rua-Vera won’t necessarily get the next title fight, but rather whoever wins most impressively between Rua-Vera and the other light heavyweight fight between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader, will be the next challenger for Jones.

It’s true that the news makes Saturday night’s fight card significantly more intriguing, however the decision to give Brandon Vera an opportunity to potentially compete for a UFC title still leaves many fans scratching their heads.

Vera is coming off of a win over Eliot Marshall, but he had lost his previous three fights in devastating enough fashion that the UFC opted to cut him from the roster. When it was later revealed that Thiago Silva had submitted a falsified urine sample for his fight with Vera, the loss was later turned into a no-contest…but everyone remembers the beating he took nonetheless.

Prior to that devastating thrashing which gave him a horribly broken nose, Vera was on the receiving end of yet another highlight reel butt-kicking as an elbow from Jon Jones broke his face in three different places.

Needless to say, prior to the uninspiring win over Marshall, who has since been cut by the UFC, Vera had been on a terrible streak of losses which had all but completely eliminated the hype that surrounded him early in his UFC career.

Yet somehow, much to the surprise of just about everyone, Vera was given a fight against former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Worse yet, if Vera somehow wins that fight,could be be the one to challenge Jon Jones for the title next.

It’s true that Jones has completely steamrolled through the UFC’s 205-pound division, so there really aren’t many obvious contenders for the belt.

But Brandon Vera? Really?

This is a guy who, at the current moment, barely cracks most top-25 lists, let alone top-10 lists. There has to be someone else who would make for a more interesting No. 1 contender.

How about Alexander Gustaffson? How about Glover Teixeira?

Both of them, and others, would be significantly better opponents for Jon Jones than Brandon Vera.

I mean no disrespect to Brandon Vera as a fighter because he certainly does have the talent to get back to being a top contender, but winning one fight against a guy who is no longer employed by the company, after three straight losses, should not put someone in a championship contenders’ fight.

The decision has been made, though, and the winner of Shogun-Vera or Machida-Bader will get his chance to dethrone Jones.

Come Saturday night, we could be talking about the rematch that no one wants to see—Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones.

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UFC on Fox 4: Alexander Gustafsson Deserves to Earn His Crack at UFC Gold

Yesterday on the UFC on Fox 4 media call, UFC president Dana White declared that the winner of this Saturday’s headliner between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon “The Truth” Vera would get the next immediate shot at the winner of UFC 151’s light-heavy…

Needless to say, MMA fans took to Twitter in expressing their disagreement with the news. Some fans argued that Vera was not the man Rua should have to beat in order to justify a rematch with either Jones—who thoroughly dethroned Rua at UFC 128 last year—or Henderson—who put on the proverbial “Fight of The Millennium” with Rua at UFC 139 last fall. Others stayed vocal in saying that Vera’s less-than-stellar record as of late did not justify a title shot against either Jones or Henderson, the former of whom defeated Vera at the UFC’s debut on Versus (now NBC Sports Network).

In any event, the UFC president changed the station, so to speak, as the UFC brass opted to change the tune in light of the fans’ outcries. To put it in simpler terms, the next contender to the king’s throne will depend on who looks more impressive in victory. If the winner of Shogun vs. Vera is more impressive than the victor in the events co-headliner of Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader, then the winner of Shogun vs. Vera will indeed get the next crack at the gold.

Likewise, if the winner of Machida vs. Bader prevails in more impressive fashion than that of the main event’s victor, then either Machida or Bader will either have their dream fight with Henderson or their rematch with Jones.

However, the fact that it has come to this—that it has come to the point where four victims of the current champion are going to earn a shot at the gold with one win—begs a question that nobody’s had the gall to ask yet:

What about Alexander Gustafsson?

Gustafsson has been on a five-fight win streak, looking no less impressive in his past outings than Rua, Vera, Bader or Machida did in their respective last few outings. Gustafsson has faced no shortage of tough, durable fighters in his path towards his golden dreams, either. Not only that, but Gustafsson also has not delivered any sort of lackluster performance that might deny his argument towards a big fight or a title eliminator—something which many feel Vera has, and something which some may feel Bader did in his unanimous-decision win over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 144.

No word has been given on who will face Gustafsson in that “big fight” that the UFC talked about, but is there any doubt that Gustafsson would make sense as the only real “challenge” left for the champion? Regardless of whether it’s Jones or Henderson that supports all twelve pounds of the gold after UFC 151 next month, if Gustafsson wins that next fight and extends his current streak to 6-0?

We should say not, even though we don’t know who’s next for Gustafsson. After all, the man has earned his moment to dance with the fiercest wolves in the pack at 205 pounds. He deserves the chance to prove as such by facing someone as dangerous as Rua or Machida if at all possible, because in such few words, it’s all that makes sense for him at this point.

Besides that, by lining up an opportunity to challenge for the gold and handing it to the man who looks the most impressive this weekend—whether it’s the winner of the main event or of the co-main event—instead of allowing Gustafsson to earn it through his next fight, the UFC, ingenious as their marketing and PR strategies often are, proves what fans of the sport already know and are already scared to admit:

If or when Henderson loses at UFC 151, anyone other than Gustafsson is either just another mandatory challenger or a mandatory rematch for arguably the most creative and most unstoppable UFC light-heavyweight champion of this generation. Like it or not, the light-heavyweight division has finally been cleared of just about every sensible challenger.

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