Brandon “The Truth” Vera (11-3) had a dominating unanimous decision performance this past weekend over Krzysztof Soszynski (18-9-1) at UFC 102 in Portland, Ore. Brandon was a guest this morning on MMAJunkie Radio and talked about the fight and what the future holds for the light heavyweight prospect.
Although pleased he got the win, Vera is definitely the type of fighter who does not like to leave it in the judges’ hands. “It was a good fight. It was fun to go three rounds again,” said Vera. “I wish I would have finished the fight. I hate when it goes to the judges’ scorecards. It was unsatisfying I guess you could say.”
Soszynski simply got outworked and picked apart by the more technical opponent. Brandon said he could tell Soszynski was breaking as the fight wore on. “He was smiling in the first round, and second round he was smiling still a little bit, but by the third round he just looked broke,” said Vera.
Many people thought if Soszynski had an advantage it would be with his wrestling, but Brandon said although he preferred to keep the fight standing, he was not worried about being on his back due to the fact he trains with very high level accomplished wrestlers.
When Brandon Vera first arrived on the UFC scene in 2005, he began tearing through the heavyweight division with four straight wins, including a first round TKO over former champion Frank Mir. Still undefeated at the time, Vera was extremely vocal about his intentions of winning the heavyweight title and then going down to light heavyweight to win that title as well.
However, with a unanimous decision loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 77 followed by a first round TKO loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 85, dreams of becoming the UFC heavyweight champ seemed unlikely and Vera moved down to light heavyweight.
Now 3-1 at light heavyweight, Vera confirmed he still has long range plans of becoming champion in both the 205 lbs. and heavyweight divisions.
Vera is known for having some of the best kicks in professional MMA, but he wanted to finish Soszynski with his fists. “I wanted to put him out with my hands. Everybody knows about my kicks,” said Vera. Why did Brandon prefer to get the KO with punches as opposed to kicks one might ask. “Just because I can,” he said.
Alliance Training Center he owns – it’s going well, just expanded our restrooms and locker rooms. We have so many people coming in and training at the same time. Tula Vista, Calif.
Fighters have such a unique lifestyle with training camps and all the travelling, it has to be hard to maintain a good relationship with a wife or husband. In Brandon’s case it is a bit different because his wife, Kerry Vera, is also a professional fighter.
In fact, Kerry just won a unanimous decision in her professional debut for Bellator back in May. “She’s drama free and just likes to train and fight,” Brandon said. That must be the secret to their success. Not to mention, that is probably one household a burglar should avoid.
So when can UFC fans see “The Truth” back inside the Octagon? Brandon would not mind fighting again before year’s end, he said all they have to do is let him know when and where and he will be ready.
If you want a KO, you usually have to throw a few punches… just saying