Brandon Vera on possible title shot: This is like winning the lottery twice
Posted on July 30, 2012, 03:36 PM by Mike Searson
UFC held a media conference call today in advance of UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera which takes place this Saturday, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Headlining is "Shogun" Rua, a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion. He won the title in 2010 but lost it in 2011 to Jon Jones. Since losing the belt, he had the 2011 "Fight of the Year" against Dan Henderson who will be fighting Jon Jones at UFC 151 in Las Vegas for the title. He is facing Brandon Vera for a match which now has title implications.
UFC President Dana White said on the call that this weekend's winner would be in line for a title shot against the winner of that bout: "Shogun Rua just came off the fight of the year last year. He's been one of the greatest fighters in the last decade. This guy knocked out Rampage, knocked out Chuck Liddell, knocked out Mark Coleman, knocked out Lyoto Machida. A win puts Shogun right back at the top of the division. He's probably the number 2 guy in the world. I already announced that the winner of Vera and Rua gets the shot. We like impressive finishes. We like guys that finish. If you look at Shogun's last fight, his fight with Dan Henderson was one of the sickest fights of my life. Guys who fight on Fox are in line for title shots. We put important fights on Fox. That's what you're gonna see."
When asked about the implications of a rematch with Jones for the title, Shogun Rua stoicly said: "I'm only focused on Saturday, not on Jones. Vera is a guy that's very well known in the MMA business and the UFC. He has a strong name and Glover still has a long way to run. Right now the best option is a guy who's well known and Brandon Vera is the choice."
Vera was initially cut from the UFC after several losses, but made a comeback with a unanimous decision win over Elliot Marshall at UFC 137 and has been wanting a rematch with Jones since his first round via TKO loss to the champ in March 2010: "Dana throwing that out there is like winning the lottery twice. Just watch me on August 4th.My mindset preparing for Shogun has been amazing. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and you only get this call once. Training has been great. People from all over the globe have been coming in to help me get in shape for Shogun. I had a headstart on camp while preparing for Te Huna and it's been good. It's been amazing. I thought Jones was young punk when we fought and that I got what I deserved for underestimating him. I didn't train hard and didn't take him serious."
White said he has not spoken to Jones on his acceptance of a rematch, but stated that fighters such as Jones need to accept that they are going to fight whomever is put in front of them: "When you're the top guy and keep beating people, you might see another guy coming your way you already beat. It is what it is. It is part of the business."
Comments
Dana White is Great !
Close, he's a "great white"
WHAT A FREAKING JOKE !!!!!
Neither Vera or Rua deserve anything. They both have not showed a good fight at all. They need to fight someone and win in an impressive manner.
Either way both of these guys already faced Jones and they both got the crap beat out of them in a very impressive fashion. These two guys are not going to learn any new style or strategy to beat Jones unless he shows up with the flu...
Most fans including me dont give a rats ass to see Rua or Vera fight Jones...
.....As opposed to seeing what exactly? You act like there are a long line of challengers being shut out in the cold because rua wants to rematch jones.
Even if Vera KO's Shogun in the first round he doesn't deserve a shot...not yet anyway. He's only won one fight in his last 4!!
I'm tired of lame excuses like "I thought Jones was a young punk and didn't take him seriously." Accept the fact that you got destroyed by Jones and move on. You sound even worse if that is actually the case.
I like the picture of Vera, Looking for a title that's nowhere in sight
Thank you Sir,
Totally agree with you. I would rather see Glover getting that shot directly if Rua doesn't want to fight him, then to see a Vera vs Jones repeat.
How does someone who was on the line of being cut, get into title contention after such an unimpressive decision win..! Totally disrespectful towards the fans really.
^ priceless..... ^
the LHW division is shit. They need to bring in more talent and start building up some prospects or it might never recover.
It is amazing how whenever a division has an ultra dominant champion (eheh, MW) people start saying the division is weak. LHW is a shark tank. It just happens that at the moment the top shark is a Megalodon.
Thanx Ichoke, too bad there isn't an intelligent button i can click.
Only a matter of time before we start seeing like 40 idiots claiming jones in a punk because he won't move up and fight overeem
Yup. I have to admit though that much like Silva I do like the idea of Jones fighting above his wt class. I don't think Jones is as good as Silva (who I see beating every LHW) but I think Jones (at current wt) can beat a lot of top tier HWs.
bring in Mousasi. what's happened to him? training hard i hope.
I would love to see that fight if it stays standing but I think Jones would get tat to the ground very quickly and dominate the fight there.
He's been fighting to a draw with an out of shape Keith Jardine...
lol Keith.....burn!
Tat = that. The damned keyboard sticks.
But not like that ROTFLAMS!
You gotta wonder if Jones is going to be the guy to finally say, "No Dana, I'm not just going to fight who you put in front of me"...
It would have so many consequences (both good and bad).
I want a shogun comeback so bad...
but even if he destroys vera, it won't say much on how he'll match up against jones again
Did Vera just say he has a better chance of hitting the Mega Million twice than he does winning a title? That's why they call him the TRUTH.
lol, I think the truth is, he's fighting for a paycheck and his job.
Well Evan...Anderson does just that and the only thing I hear is people bitching about it.
He sure had no problem doing that against Cote, Maia and Leites.
The only time he's ever been famous for "choosing" his opponent was when he didn't want to rematch Henderson or Sonnen. Sonnen was the guy he said repeatedly didn't deserve a rematch.
Guess you don't remember 09 when every contender at middleweight didn't deserve to fight him. Like Henderson, Nate Marquart, and Belfort. Sure Anderson never came out and said he wouldn't fight them Ed Soares was the one saying it but im sure him and Anderson were talking about how no one deserved to fight him back then. Saying Anderson doesn't try to pick and choose his fights is 100% wrong.
Oh is it 100% wrong? Is it because you're sure that him and Soares thought nobody deserved to fight him (which does more to enforce my point then distract from it)?
The only times he's steadfastly refused fighting somebody is Chael Sonnen. There were rumors that he refused to give Hendo a rematch (with how dominant he was how could you really blame him? and wanted Henderson vs. Marquardt for a legitimate contender), but there was nothing indicating him picking and choosing opponents at any other part of his career.
I have no problem with someone like Silva saying who he does are doesn't want to fight but when statements come out that he doesn't think people are ready to fight him to me thats picking and choosing who should fight him does it mean he will eventually let them fight him yes, because he knows eventually someones resume will be to strong to ignore but Anderson Silva isn't the UFC match maker Joe Silva is. Im not trying to say Anderson is scared of anyone but he does try to influence who the UFC puts in front of him, and I dont blame him for that I just wish sometimes he would take fights and not give us his personal opinion about why they shouldn't be fighting him.
See, I completely agree with that opinion. What I'm saying is he's only been theoretically guilty of that at 2 parts of his career (one was only a rumor that Dana White basically agreed with). Think about if he did that more, and struck down fights against Cote and Leites. We wouldn't have had to sit through any of those fights, and might have gotten a second fight with a streaking Nate.
There hasn't been too many points in his UFC career that you could say "hey, he should have fought this guy and didn't".
Kudos to Vera for his optimism - yet he needs to accept that fact that he is going to get handled on Sat.
Shogun knows this is a show fight - he is going to go for the kill.
Brandon seems like a good dude but as for the top 5 and possibly top 10 might just be out of his reach - he's now in the winters of his career IMO.
Shogun on his good days will beat anyone at LHW that isn't named Jones.
Dana let slip what his real intentions are for this fight in that statement, he thinks Rua will finish Vera impressively (which he blatantly will) and give him the title shot.
Heard this earlier in a Facebook forum earlier and my jaw is still down on the floor... Even his name being mentioned with title is a disgrace and joke to the UFC.
Vera has only 1 win from his last 4 and in that win he looked terrible - getting rocked by a grappler with very limited striking. In his last fight he easily looked like one of the worst LHWs
If Vera actually gets the title shot the UFC would be insane to make it the main event unless they purely want to show off Bones to the casual fans.
Jones has already decimated Vera and has basically put Vera on the downside of his career, by breaking him mentally via that elbow.
Vera has only been looking worse and worse since that fight while Jones has improves phenomenaly.
If Vera does indeed win and gets the said title shot, it will be one of the worst title matchups in UFC history if not the worst.
Double Post... Weak!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDq0c35pd4&feature=related
Shits weak, wizeak!
I think Vera wont get a shot even if he wins saturday guys. I think this is just hype plus it sounds like Dana thinks Shogun is going to destory Vera. If Shogun does win this fight its a good situation for the UFC because if Jones beats Henderson then the guy that they want as the future face of the UFC is still their champ but if Hendo wins they can hype up the Hendo Shogun fight since it was one of the greatest fights ever. If Vera wins im sure Dana will try even harder to convince Cromier to drop to 205 to fight Jones
Hype/promotion or not. Dana White isn´t the same since UFC149.
I recommend a deep CT brain scan and a double dose of diazepam.
Vera's one of those guys that on paper looks really great with his physical attributes and skillset, then you look at his record and wonder how he can manage to suck that hard. I keep on watching his fights, hoping something will fall into place and let him reach his potential. If he pulls it all together, he'd be a very good exciting fighter with very few weaknesses.
I'm not gonna hold my breath on him winning this fight, but if he walks in there and demolishes Shogun, I have no problems seeing him get the winner of Jones/Henderson. His record as of late may not be very good, but a Vera that can beat Shogun would be an entirely different animal. I'd be interested in seeing how he approached a second fight with Jones.
Jones was fighting out of Team Bomb Squad in Cortland Ny when he broke Vera's face. He's improved improved in every area of his game since transitioning to New Mexico. Why on earth would he be given a title shot with a victory. Pretty sure that the only fighter anyone wants to see in a rematch with Jones is Machida.
This announcement is retarded, I guess it's just to hype up the fight to get more viewers... it would make more sense to have Gustafsson fighting Shogun for a possible title shot. Vera fits nowhere in this picture, wondering if he's getting released in case he loses, I think he should.
Dana musta been drunk! wtf Dana? this guy got beat by Eliott Marshall,The Fire got robbed,crushed by Jones,get a clue Dana!!!
There is no way Vera is getting a title shot, even if he wins. What Dana means is "when Shogun wins, he'll get a title shot".
Saying the winner gets Jones is just hyping the fight. Dana has promised a shot at the belt a bunch of times, but if the 'wrong' guy wins, it never happens.
On the plus side, being a Jones fan, fighting either of these guys again will make it all that much easier to put titos (tainted by weak competition and having the guy that beat him retire) record out of peoples minds.
NO FREAKING WAY!!!!! Should Vera get a title shot.. Even if he did beat Shogun... Shogun either does not deserve to get a title shot at lease one more fight for Shogun. BUT in saying that they should be both considered as a contender more so Shogun than Vera.
Vera? Title shot? That's too F#CKING FUNNY!!
Even if he wins, which he won't, he would be at least 2 more wins away from a title shot, against TOP contenders.
NEVER HAPPEN.
205 needs new faces, its a stacked division but the fighters in the hunt have already lost to jones
Word is Struve is cutting to 205 and watching inspector gadget fight films 24/7 battle of the reaches.
I don't like any of these 4 getting the next shot
3 are retreds that Jones has already demolished
Gee whiz why not just yank someone out of the field
and do a Rocky sotry?
Barring Henderson some who lands a bomb on Jones
and Vera looks about 5 years younger in his fight
I see nothing on the horizon to get the viewers to spend their money