Brandon Vera Wants A Rematch Here In The Philippines!

Vera bows to Brazilian jiu-jitsu champ
By Joey Villar
Monday, June 9, 2008

LONDON– Fil-Am Brandon Vera’s bid for a crack at the world UFC title suffered
a severe blow when he bowed to Brazilian Fabricio Werdum in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship 85: Bedlam at the O2 Arena here Saturday.
In
what Vera described was a premature stoppage, referee Dan Migliotta
halted the fight four minutes and 40 seconds into the first of the
scheduled three-round fight after he ruled Vera, mounted by Werdum and
on the receiving end of a flurry of blows, had taken too much of the
punishment.
But Vera had thought otherwise.
“Yeah I admit I was
in a bad position but I heard him breathing hard every time he throws a
punch so I told myself ‘I’ll take care of him in the second round,’”
said a dejected Vera.
“I was talking to him (Migliotta) and he was
asking if I’m okay and I told him ‘I’m okay.’ So I’m really surprised
he made that decision,” Vera said.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN’s Sky Cable
Channel Balls and UHL channel Studio 23 will telecast the Vera-Werdum
fight plus some other bouts at 9 a.m. today with replays tomorrow at 3
p.m.
Migliotta’s decision did not sit well with the majority of the
14,000 fans who booed Werdum when he was interviewed by the ring
announcer inside the 30-feet, chain-linked octagon ring after the fight.
Vera,
19 lbs lighter and two inches smaller than his Brazilian foe, however,
took the setback in stride as he hugged and raised the hand of Werdum,
who booked his 11th win against three losses and a draw.
“I told
Fabricio that it’s not his fault and he didn’t deserve to be booed. But
it’s really sad that this had to happen,” Vera said.
Vera said he
would ask UFC president Dana White for a rematch, possibly in the
Philippines where the UFC organization is planning to hold its first
event out of the United States, Canada and England.
“I would love to have a rematch in six or seven months time, I’ll definitely ask UFC. Fabricio seemed okay with it,” said Vera.
It was Vera’s second straight setback after winning his first eight matches, including four in big pay-per-view fights at UFC.
Vera’s
other defeat was a unanimous decision against Tim “The Maine-iac”
Sylvia in October last year in Cincinnati, Ohio despite a jammed right
thumb he sustained in the first of their three-round bout.
The loss thus stalled Vera’s bid for a crack against interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira.
In
contrast, Werdum, ranked among the top 5 in his class, boosted his
stock as he inched closer to avenging one of his three setbacks to
Nogueira.
Using his jiu-jitsu skills to the hilt, Werdum mounted
Vera perfectly and unleashed a rain of haymakers, forcing Migliotta to
stop the fight despite most of the Brazilian’s blows were hitting the
Fil-Am‘s hands.
Vera shook Werdum with a solid right straight three-and-a-half minutes into the round but didn’t go outright for the kill.
That
gave Werdum some breather and the Brazilian fighter managed to bring
Vera to the ground before pinning Vera for the swift win.
“I thought
he was baiting me, that’s why I didn’t follow it up with more punches.
Maybe I should have gone for the kill,” said Vera.
In the featured
fight, Thiago “Pitbull” Alvez won via a technical knockout over former
two-time welterweight champion Matt Hughes in a catch weight fight that
was billed a huge upset.
London native Michael Bisping likewise won
via TKO over Jason “Dooms” Day while Mike “Quick” Swick won via
unanimous decision over Marcus Davis.
Other winners were Thales
Lietes over Nate Marquadt (split decision), Martin Kampmann over Jorge
Rivera (submission), Matt Wiman over Thiago Tavares (TKO), Kevin Burns
over Roan Carniero (TKO), Luiz Cane over Jason Lambert (TKO), Paul
Taylor over Jess Liaudin (split decision) and Antoni Hardonk over Eddie
Sanchez (TKO).

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