Brandon Vera dropping to 205lbs to fight Reese Andy July 19th

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by thecoylewis

I'm not one to believe in tune up fights although I understand why they do them. I'd much rather see Vera fight a lower-middle tier guy like Bonnar or Boetsch for a tuneup fight than a can from the IFL. Meanwhile Palhares gets Hendo on his next fight. It just seems a bit off to me. Oh well, if Vera wins, he can then fight Machida.

I see ur point but Palhares fought Salaverry in his first fight, I dont consider Salaverry a tune up fight by any means. I know he was on the decline of his career but he's no can. With that said, Palhares is getting Hendo because he ran through SAlaverry with ease. If vera runs throught Reese "Peanut Butter Cup" Andy, look to see him take on a top tier guy like Jardine or maybe even mid tier, my guess is Alexander. It's sort of been a trend when a fighter drops weight classes, swick got burkman, even anderson moving up gets to fight james irvin in his 205 debut and granted there are exceptions but you get my point.

[bigsmooth696969]

Originally Posted by thecoylewis

I'm not sure where all the Vera hype comes from. His only notable win was over Frank Mir soon after he came back from a long medical leave from his motorcycle accident. As soon as he steps up in competition, he loses 2 in a row. Maybe he'll be better at LHW but I see more of the same. Matchup him up with Bonnar, T. Silva, Jardine or Hamill to see where he stands. I think he's a long ways from justifying the aura that people give him.

100% agree with the hype factor! I have a hard time justifying the move to 205. He went from a rather weak weight class to possibly the strongest. I could see him HW champ way before LWH champ or even LHW contender. I just don't see him matching up well with Silva, Liddell, Machida, Rampage, or even Forrest. As stated before, if he can handle the likes of Jardine, Bonnar, etc...I think he could be a fighter who could take the up and comers to the next level.....kinda like a challenge before the upper fighters. I do wish him all the best and hope he has a nice run in LHW but I still see him as a future HW contender before a LHW one. Vera, prove me wrong dude!

[hunterkiller]

Originally Posted by Brutus

I see ur point but Palhares fought Salaverry in his first fight, I dont consider Salaverry a tune up fight by any means. I know he was on the decline of his career but he's no can. With that said, Palhares is getting Hendo because he ran through SAlaverry with ease. If vera runs throught Reese "Peanut Butter Cup" Andy, look to see him take on a top tier guy like Jardine or maybe even mid tier, my guess is Alexander. It's sort of been a trend when a fighter drops weight classes, swick got burkman, even anderson moving up gets to fight james irvin in his 205 debut and granted there are exceptions but you get my point.

I think Palhares is getting Hendo, Anderson's getting Irvin and Vera's getting Reese more because of a lack of availability. Anderson fighting Irvin isn't a planned event. They only threw it together to screw with Affliction. Vera was offered Machida and he turned it down, everyone else at 205 is unavailable and Vera needed an easy win. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed this guy just for Vera. And Palhares fighting Hendo has more to do with everyone else at 185 being tied up. Where is Franklin. Did he get dinged up fighting Lutter. I see your point though and you're right.

And Burkman is boring as all get out but he isn't that bad of a fighter, a middle tier kind of guy.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by thecoylewis

I think Palhares is getting Hendo, Anderson's getting Irvin and Vera's getting Reese more because of a lack of availability. Anderson fighting Irvin isn't a planned event. They only threw it together to screw with Affliction. Vera was offered Machida and he turned it down, everyone else at 205 is unavailable and Vera needed an easy win. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed this guy just for Vera. And Palhares fighting Hendo has more to do with everyone else at 185 being tied up. Where is Franklin. Did he get dinged up fighting Lutter. I see your point though and you're right.

And Burkman is boring as all get out but he isn't that bad of a fighter, a middle tier kind of guy.

they did throw the anderson fight together quickly but it really wasnt the first time they contemplated moving him up. the point being that they wouldn't give him a machida or chuck or tito, granted he wasnt available anyway. Even had they had a longer period of time to think about a match up, they prolly still woulda gave him an Irvin-like opponent regardless of availability. we're pretty much debating on the same side just for different reasons. lol.

oh, i gotta say i think palhares is getting hendo cause it seems to be a good match up. availability would have let he and franklin fight but i'm glad they waited on that. palhares seems to be a stud and beating a guy like hendo will show us where he is at in the big picture.

[Unreal]

I wanna see Vera vs Shogun, that would be a great fight. Also Thiago Silva, though if he beats Wandy he should be fighting for the tittle after.


And how come I haven't heard from Machida in a while?? When's this guy fighting for the tittle?? The way I see it there's only one guy in that division who could give him trouble, and that of course is Rampage. I see him being able to work through Machida's striking or taking him down.

[Problematique]

Good move for Vera.
Smart that he turned down the Machida fight as well.
I think he can do well @ 205.

[Tenacious_Thunder]

Could be really good for Vera, or really bad for him as well.....
The LHW division is way more stacked than the HW division, so that is the bad part.
But coming in, he could have the strengnth advantage over a lot of guys so it could be good. Andy is good for Vera coming off 2 losses. seen him fight before and Vera should win in the 1st by TKO

[Palma]

$20 says he doesn't make weight...

[Frag x 3]

Originally Posted by Palma

$20 says he doesn't make weight...

Oh, shit! Let's hope we don't have any more of that drama.

The way I see it, Vera is an exciting fighter. Excitement is big money in the UFC's eyes, hence the large locker room bonuses for good fights. Vera is capable of producing, so putting him in a fight with Andy as a tune-up for 205 is a good ivestment for all involved. Well, all excluding Reese Andy.

Does that name sound fake? Anyway, he's not exactly a can, being 7-1. I thought it'd be some sub-.500 guy.

[Dr. MMA]

Originally Posted by Palma

$20 says he doesn't make weight...

I thought I was the only one who thought this. As soon as this match was made, I mentioned in a thread (maybe this one) that can Vera even make weight for this fight? Everyone assumes he can and I'm sure he could in the future but this soon after his last fight? He naturally came in at 228, so first he has to probably cut down 6-7 lbs of fat and then he has to get accustomed to cutting down 15-20 lbs of water... all in a matter of 6 weeks after his last fight? That's bloody hard especially when he has to train in other aspects as well.

Either Vera doesn't make weight or if he does, I can see him gassing early on in the fight.