Vera picks up pieces after slump in UFC

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Brandon Vera tries to recover lost ground as he takes on Mike Patt in the UFC 96 on March 8 in Columbus, Ohio.

Vera, who streaked to nine wins but has dropped three of his last four matches for a 9-3 (win-loss) record, has vowed to bounce back from a series of mediocre performances

“It’s ridiculous,” Vera recently told www.ufc.com. “I messed up in a bad way and I’m fixing it now. I’m just bringing back the simple things, things as simple as jumping rope.”

Patt totes an impressive 15-3 record that makes him a dangerous rival for the Filipino muay specialist.

Vera, however, said he is not afraid to face anyone right now.

“Maybe it’s a dangerous fight, he (Patt) is 15-3. I’m in a position right now where I don’t care who I fight. You just put somebody in front of me and I’ll fight,” said Vera.

“Maybe this is a good fight for me, maybe it’s a stupid fight. They (UFC) said you’re going to fight such and such, and I said okay, I’m in,” he added.

Vera said he is doing all he could to regain not only the fighter’s edge but also the free-swinging, wrecking ball style that made him a menace when he went 8-0 at the start of his mixed martial arts career.

“I like just going to unknown environments. Going to different gyms and training with different people, you know,” said Vera.

In his buildup against Patt, Vera sought the help of Dean Lister and two-time world champ Leo Santos at the Alliance Gym in San Diego to help improve his grappling technique.

Meanwhile, another Fil-Am in Mark Muñoz will make his UFC debut in the same event where he squares off with Matt Hamill.

The 31-year-old Muñoz, a former two-time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State, has an unblemished record of five straight wins, including a pair of first round knockout wins over Ricardo Barros and Chuck Grigsby in the WEC where he got the name “The Philippine Wrecking Machine.” – Joey Villar