MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Brandon “The Truth” Vera gets one final chance to revive a floundering mixed martial arts career as he slugs it out with the fancied Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a light heavyweight clash at UFC on FOX 4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on Aug. 5 (Phl time).
After dropping two of his last four fights plus a no-contest, the 34-year-old Vera makes his bid for another title shot after UFC president Dana White announced that the winner of the Rua-Vera showdown will be next in line to face off with reigning light heavy champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
Jones is set to defend the crown against Dan Henderson on Sept. 2 (Phl time), which will also be shown on ABS-CBN’s sports cable channel BALLS like UFC on Fox 4.
“’Shogun’ Rua is probably one of the best fighters of the last decade,” said White on one conference call by the UFC to www.mmafighting.com.
“Think about it. This guy knocked out (Quinton) ‘Rampage’ (Jackson), knocked out Chuck Liddell, knocked out Mark Coleman, knocked out Lyoto Machida, knocked out Forrest Griffin, knocked out Alistair Overeem twice, submitted Kevin Randleman.”
“A win vs (Vera) puts him right back in position, and then he’s probably the No. 2 guy in the world.”
For Vera, who knocked out former heavyweight champion Frank Mir six years ago, he’s just too glad to have another opportunity at redemption.
“This is already a blessing in disguise. And by Dana throwing that (a title shot) out there, it’s like winning the lottery twice,” he said.
Vera, of course, is one of the few Fi-Ams in the UFC, the other active one is Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz, who is scheduled to visit Manila on Aug. 12, courtesy of BALLS.