Loretta Hunt over at The Fight Network is reporting that Brandon Vera has signed an extension to his existing UFC contract and plans to remain with the UFC.
Heavyweight contender Brandon Vera has signed an extension with the Ultimate Fighting Championship with plans to complete the remaining fight on his existing contract with the Las Vegas-based organization as soon as he is able to.
Vera’s existing contract slated his last fight take place in May, but the fighter was granted the extension by Zuffa LLC., owners of the UFC, to work out legal issues with his current management. Vera, 29, plans to renew his contract with the UFC afterwards.
“I want to stay with the UFC,†the Virginia native said today. “They have some of the best fighters in the world. It’s an amazing stable of fighters and the who’s who of the MMA world. ‘Cro Cop’ [Mirko Filipovic] is a big factor for me wanting to stay. He’s the number-two guy in the world.â€
The story of Brandon Vera and his “holdout” with the UFC has been quite a large topic in the MMA community. Of course, the events of the past few weeks between Zuffa and Pride have greatly over-shadowed Vera and his contract status. But it appears now that Brandon Vera is working towards signing a fight contract with the UFC. Vera “resurfaced” this past Tuesday on the Sherdog.net Forums with the following post:
When someone lies to you… it becomes a fu*ked up thing. Then they start talking sh*t about your cuz thier wrong? It becomes something else. It is what it is… I’ve left City and am in process with the CSAC for my managerial contract. I WILL be fighting soon, and it WILL be a good one. Hope everyone the best. Yeah………. I’m training.
Vera also said “Ima still be with UFC.” He also relayed his desire to fight Mirko Cro Cop. Either way, it looks like the questions about Brandon Vera’s future have been answered for the time being and he will work out a deal with the UFC. Whatever happened between Brandon and his management at City Boxing is unknown, but now that Brandon has left his old management team, hopefully he will be able to work out a new deal with the UFC quickly.
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Either he caved because of the Pride/UFC aquisition, or because his management team was eating his profits and he realized that boxing promoters don’t belong in MMA.
I think he caved because he can no longer play one organization against the other…… and….. he’s just not that good anyway.
I hope Dana pays him less for being an az.
YO COOL NOW I CAN SEE BRANDON VERA’S A SS GET KNOCKED OUT IM PLEASED
JUST one more guy to get knocked out by Tim Silva…. right Patrick?
U KNOW I DOTN LIKE TIM DENNIS BUT MAN VERA JUST PUT A NASTY TASTE IN MY MOUTH AND YES I WOULD LOVE TO SEE TIM ROCK HIS WORLD…VERA IS THE BIGGEST SUCK BAG IN MY OPINION… RIGHT DENNIS????
Yes!
Dana should start a new organization for losers like Vera called the SBC!
Suck Bag Championship
The Shamrocks would be first to sign!
Followed by Elvis and Leben.
DENNIS Y DO U NOT LIKE LEBEN??
@Patrick
I like Leben, but he doesn’t have any skills. He just hits hard.
I hoped he would come to his senses. The UFC is obviously the best place to be right now. Brandon is a good fighter now he will have the chance to prove if he is a great figter. It just adds more depth to the already beefed up HW division. Even with the alliances I don’t see how the other promotions are going to compete with UFC/Pride.
I AGREE DENNIS… WHAT ARE UR THOUGHTS ON JASON MCDONALD AND HOW SHI TTY HIS PERFORMANCE WAS WITH RICH
Jason was “put in his place” by a true champion.
Man, Vera sure has balls though calling out Mirko.
I used to like Vear a lot and think he is really talented. Another one of those cerebral fighters. He would call out Chuck all the time, and then, instead if working his way up and proving he deserved a shot at Chuck…he “disappeared”.
Chuch is going to have his work cut out for him untill he retires. After Rampage his oponents are going to get better. Now that the UFC has an abundace od stars to face off against him it’s pointless to have Griffin, Rashad or Jardine even be in the title picture now. I think Liddell’s win streak will end this year. Can’t wait to see Rua in the octagon I think his agressive style will work well in the cage, not as much room for people to run. This will be the best year of fights ever.
YO I HOPE CRO C OP KICKS OFF VERAS HEAD!!!!
YO DENNIS… SO WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN IF RICH TOOK ANDERSON ON AGAIN DO U THINK?
i think franklin vs. silva 2 will go a lot like the first one but it might last longer like a full round or two. i think silva is better then franklin both standing and on the ground so rich will really have to step up his game to win this time around.
All Rich has to do is prepare, and he can “easily” take Silva. Just check out what the Piranha did…. perfect defense to the clench.
Ace is notibly smarter, stronger, and hits harder. He just wasn’t prepared last time.
The next time WILL be different.
as for vera calling out Cro Cop. What a joke!!!
.. but I can’t blame him for trying. What better way to get publicity, and try to win public opinion back after being such a loser.
Vera has lost whatever little reputation he gained. I think he will surely get booed the next time he steps in the Octagon. Dana has all the leverage now, unless Vera never really wanted ot fight the best guys in the first place and will be perfectly content with going smaller shows, earning less, and fighting inferior competition.
@Dennis
Haven’t seen you on here in a couple of days, must have been on vacation or something. Looks like Chuck just got a whole lot more competition. We may see the Liddell vs Shogun sooner than expected. What do you think his chabces are? If he can beat these guys he will have proved he is the best and go down in history or if these guys come in and whip him it will show that the UFC just didn’t have the talent to challenge him at the time. Either way we will find out soon.
As far as Silva/Franklin 2 goes, whoever thinks the outcome will be any different, must be smoking whatever Nick Diaz and Diego Sanchez have been smoking. Anderson Silva is a far superior fighter than Rich Franklin will ever be. Franklin will get dominated once again. You will see how many future UFC champs will be former Pride fighters.
I have to agree. Rich didn’t show anything in the first fight that would lead me to believe he can win. If the fight does happen to go to the ground he’s in real trouble. Silva submitted Travis pretty easily and he is way better than Franklin on the ground. I like Rich but I think like Couture vs Liddell he just found someone with a style he can’t figure out or overcome.
YEA ANDERSON IS A FREAKIN MAD DOG
theres alot of topics in this thread. Let me start with Vera, did he ever get his million dollar payday we were discussing last month?? Cuz if he got paid, then he did the right thing, and hes coming back to the UFC anyways hehe. I dunno why you guys are hating on Vera, the guys looking out for #1, he out to make the most money possible, thats why he wants to fight crocop, win or lose, his Pockets are getting fatter. If he actually wins? hes comin up like the jeffersons!
Franklin vs Silva 2
Im surprised you guys are counting franklin out so fast, Dennis is the only one who i agree with. To say that Anderson is out of franklins league is a BIT much for the outcome of one fight. Really, I thik rich took the fight lightly and being the champ probably got to his head. I dont say this purely out of speculation tho, i have reasons for thinking this way.
When rich was losing the war in the clinch, he didnt break the clinch, and this is NOT because he doesnt know how, or because anderson has some kind of magical clinch thats unescapable. Its because Rich didnt WANT to lose the war in the clinch, hes always dominated his opponents in the clinch. I think there was some ego there, and by the time he realized it, anderson had already hammered him to the body with those knees. Like what happened to Hughes, his game plan was, ill try and stand with him, then if i start losing the standup ill take him down. The problem with that is that, it only takes one shot to knock your *** out, it might be too late when you decide you need to change gears.
What am i really trying to say with all this? I think it will be a GREAT fight next time, i believe rich can win, anderson could also win, but dont think silva will destroy him like that again.
If the Chuck/ Shogun fight happens soon, the ICEMAN cometh.
If they wait long enough, Shogun will outlive him.
I should remind you, never count out an old man.
Remember what Randy did Tim.
Franklin is a FIGHTER, not a MARTIAL ARTIST. That is what set’s Silva apart. The guy has a blackbelt in Taekwondo, Mui Tai, and a purple belt in BJJ. Sorry, but brawler/scrappers like Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin cannot compete with skilled MMA like Silva, Penn, Rush, ect ect.
@MAD
sales trip to John Deere….
alright iv got to get in on this silva vs franklin ,tell me someone please why has franklin been coming out looking like he just got his azzzz beat mainly with black eyes what the hell he doesnt have the same look that he has had in the past even in the macdonald fight he just doesnt look there and for people saying franklin is stronger than sylvia just cuz his muscles are bigger doesnt mean hes stronger personnally id rather have the physique of sylva long and bonney great for knees and elbows.Now for shogun vs liddel this fight needs to happen now cuz the next time liddel loses i guarantee liddels age is going to be the first thing people blame there going to forget how good liddel was and blame his age this fight along with the cro crop ,fedor, vera fight need to happen soon or the icemans gonna get to old
i have to say one more thing why is bj penn and jens pulver after the tuf 5 finishes gonna fight for a title shot why ok they were good in the past but now for sure peen sucks and pulver got koed by a kid i dont care what uv done in the past u also have to pay ur does now and they havent
EXAMPLE
should pedro rizzo come back to the ufc and immediatlly get a title shot if not then why should these guys
i think you need to elaborate a bit mmakansas, theyre all fighters and theyre all martial artists. Its just to what degree of experience they have, usually based on how long theyve been doing it. When your talking about brawlers, i start thinking about guys like Tank, who you could say is definately not a martial artist. I definately wouldnt put Franklin OR Griffin in the same category as Tank. Please explain what you meant bro.
Franklin is probably the “smartest” fighter in the octagon…..period.
with that being said, along with his athletic abilities, hard hitting strikes, and a DVD player, it’s easy to beat Silva.
LOL JENS PULVAR GOT HIS A SS KICKED LOL
I don’t agree with everything Diik says, but here’s another time I do.
“should pedro rizzo come back to the ufc and immediatlly get a title shot if not then why should these guys”
@BVRASP,
I definitely do not want to catagorize myself as a “Vera hater” because I really did like the guy and after all is said and done, who will ever REALLY know exactly what happend with his managerial negotiations with the UFC? no one. I was very excited to see a guy like him back then because a good HW was rare, however, so many things have changed in the last 6 months, that top HW are no longer an exctinct species. And, when it comes down to it, Vera always used to talk about fighting Chuck and now CroCop, but until he actually does it…I will continue to be a little hesitant in rooting for him. There are a lot of other guys out there willing to work their way up.
@BVRASP,
To say that Franklin took Silva lightly would indicate that Franklin is a complete idiot, which we all know is probably not true. Anytime a Pride guy came to the UFC, it is every opponents job to study everything there is about the guy. Before Silva ever made any headlines here, his reputation was long-standing in the international MMA community. If that was the case, Franklin deserved to lose his belt. I’m just sick of hearing the same excuse that a guy didn’t train hard enough. That either implies that he is havng easy fights set up for him, or he just doesn’t want to win anymore. I think Silva is a pioneer of sorts… because of him, I am positive that many of the UFC’s “domestic fighters” take their former Pride opponents much more seriously than before Silva came to town.
herecy!
@Amir
which is it?
Did Franklin & others UFC fighters take the Pride fighters seriously before Silva…….. or not?
UM DENNIS…. HOW BOUT THIS BOUT????
DIEGO AND GSP????
………easy one………………. GSP!
no competition.
Diego will be stoned.
YO DENNIS WHAT ABOUT THIS GSP VS SERRA FIGHT?
@Patrick
Serra is a joke!
another one that DOES NOT deserve a title shot.
OK DENNIS HOW ABOUT DIEGO AND HUGHES …. HOW ABOUT THAT
@Dennis:
BVRASP stated in #28:
“I thik rich took the fight lightly and being the champ probably got to his head. I dont say this purely out of speculation tho, i have reasons for thinking this way.”
Amir:
What I am saying is that Franklin will be beaten again because he is just an inferior fighter to Anderson Silva. Because of what Anderson Silva has done to embarrass both guys who were considered very tough (Leben & Franklin) so easily, I am sure that when any UFC fighter is about to fight a guy who fought for Pride, the UFC fighter will take him more seriously and train. I think Franklin DID take him seriously and just got beat by a better fighter and it will happen again. But, if someone chooses to believe otherwise, I explained a different scenario. This scenario, being that Franklin did not take him seriously…would make Franklin a complete moron who is clueless about the MMA world competition around him.
On another note, Rich Franklin has fought in other shows before he was ever a middleweight in the UFC. I doubt that any UFC fighter
does not pay attention to the other fighters in his weightclass fighting in other parts of the world. Thats just ignorance. For Franklin to have not had any knowledge that Anderson Silva existed and would one day be a potential opponent is as Mike Tyson would say “ludicrious”.
Does this make anything clearer to you Dennis?
@Amir
it might, except you concluded with “I think Silva is a pioneer of sorts… because of him, I am positive that many of the UFC’s “domestic fighters†take their former Pride opponents much more seriously than before Silva came to town.”
….which to me, means that the UFC fighters were not taking him serious before…. which is what BV was saying to begin with.
I personally, believe that Rich was just having an off night, and will come back with a vengeance…. poor anderson.
You should never even mention Leben in the same sentence with ACE!
@Patrick
Now there you have a fight!
Not that Matt is any less capable of beating Diego than Rush, but their fighting styles will complement each other to the point of “fanxtacy”….