After fighting five years inside the Octagon, Brandon “The Truth” Vera (11-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) is no longer a UFC fighter. Following his third straight loss with the promotion, he has been released from his UFC contract.
The news of Vera’s release was reported on Thursday and confirmed by MMA Weekly.
After beginning his UFC career in 2005 with an undefeated 4-0 record, Vera was viewed as one of the most promising up-and-coming talents of the day.
An eight fight win streak with stoppages of such fighters as Mike Whitehead, Justin Eilers, Fabiano Sherner, Assuerio Silva and Frank Mir, helped cement Vera as a legitimate threat to the UFC heavyweight title at one time.
However, a unanimous decision loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 77, followed by a first round knockout loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 85, derailed his heavyweight title plans and ultimately led to him dropping to 205 where he could try and make a run at the light heavyweight title.
He won his first bout at 205, and a couple others, but a split decision loss to Keith Jardine, and then most recently, back-to-back losses to Randy Couture, Jon “Bones” Jones, and finally, Thiago Silva at UFC 125 last Saturday, proved that there are still holes in Vera’s game he needs to patch-up if he wants to fight among the elite.
Vera is an extremely talented striker, is highly adept at Greco-Roman wrestling and holds a brown belt in jiu-jitsu under Lloyd Irvin. At times though, it just seems he has trouble putting it all together when it counts most.
At only 33-years-old, Vera could still compete professionally at a high level for several years to come. And as is generally the rule in cases like this, if he can put together some meaningful wins in Strikeforce or another well-known promotion, “The Truth” still has the potential to finish out his career in the UFC.