Brandon Vera
Brandon Vera gets a second chance at fighting in the UFC.
Vera was cut following a one-sided decision loss to Thiago Silva at UFC 125, but was brought back into the organization after Silva’s drug test came back suspicious.
“I remember, the first things I said to one of my coaches – Master Lloyd Irvin – was, when I was in he hospital getting my nose fixed. I remember saying to my coach, I was in and out. I was still woozy. I said, ‘man, he was really strong.’ He said what do you mean? I said, ‘I’ve never felt anyone that strong before,” Vera told Heavy.com’s Fight Day.
“I never mentioned that to anybody else until I heard something might be positive.”
It hasn’t been announced what was wrong with Silva’s urinalysis, but Vera being brought back is an indication that it was likely positive for something. Vera wants to know what it was.
“Nothing’s confirmed yet. For me, I want to know. Is it true, is it not? I know I’m back in the UFC,” said Vera. “I want to know what happened. What’s going on with his test?”
“For me, I need that answer. I need that answer so I know that it wasn’t me. It was something else.”
When he got the call saying he was back in the UFC, it was “overwhelming.”
“My wife was sitting right beside me when my manager called. I was sitting on the couch trying to figure out what I was doing with myself. I was stuck in an unemployment line now. I wasn’t employed by the UFC anymore. I didn’t want to fight for another organization. When I got that call, this is the first time I’m saying this publically, I cried,” he said.
“It felt like a new lease on life. I have a new shot. It has rejuvenated me. I feel refreshed. I’m doing things now that I used to do before I got in the UFC training-wise and just my attitude. I think it’s what I needed. I needed to be smacked in the face really hard and being fired was part of it,” added Vera.
“I’ve been lying to myself telling myself that I was doing everything that I could to become a champion. I wasn’t. Now that I look back, I wasn’t doing everything that I was supposed to be doing. They gave me the second chance and I’m going to run with it.”
