ULTIMATE FIGHTER
Werdum setback still hounds Vera
By June Navarro
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:40:00 07/24/2008
LAS VEGAS—Brandon Vera just can’t get Brazilian Fabricio Werdum out of his system.
Whatever he does, his recent loss to Werdum continues to hound the celebrated Filipino-American mixed martial arts fighter known as “The Truth” in the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
“Fabricio’s in my head,” said Vera after winning his first fight as a light heavyweight by unanimous decision over Reese “Riptide” Andy here last Saturday.
“I’m thinking about Reese Andy, about getting punched in the face by Andy and all he’s going to do, and all of a sudden Fabricio jumps in the ring. All of a sudden, he’s there.”
The memory of that controversial setback against the 6-foot-4 Werdum in the heavyweight division during UFC 85 in London last month stays vividly in Vera’s mind although he found some consolation in subduing the 7-foot Andy.
Vera is hoping to completely forget about Werdum as the Norfolk, Virginia-born muay and jiujitsu specialist looks forward to a championship showdown with reigning light heavy champion Forrest Griffin.
Other possible opponents for the 6-foot-3 Vera are Wanderlei Silva and Lyoto Machida.
“I found a lot of guys who want to train hard again and beat the (hell) out of me,” said Vera. “I am 0-2 in my last two showings prior to this one (against Andy) and I had a lot to prove,” he added.
Vera’s win improved his MMA record to 9-2 and eased the pain of his back-to-back defeats capped by Werdum’s controversial victory.
Werdum snatched the win after the referee waived the Fil-Am fighter out prematurely.
Referee Dan Miragliotta apparently thought Vera was ready to throw in the towel after being pinned down by Werdum with 20 ticks to go in the first round.
“I said ‘I’m okay, I’m okay,’” recalled Vera of the unexpected stoppage by the referee. “But apparently he heard ‘okay, stop the fight.’ I mean, out of all the wrestling tournaments and jiu-jitsu matches, nobody’s ever said ‘okay’ for anything to be over.
“You know? Help. I’m dying. Stop. Please no. There’s a whole bunch of other words I could have said for that,” added Vera.
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