Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera Slated for UFC 125 in January
Light heavyweights Thiago Silva and Brandon Vera will return from injuries and look to bounce back from losses in their most-recent fights when they’re expected to square off at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas, according to MMAjunkie.
Silva (14-2), who recently said he was targeting a December return from a back injury, pushed his record to 13-0 with four-straight wins to begin his UFC career, but has since dropped two of his last three, including a unanimous decision to former champ and fellow contender Rashad Evans in the main event of January’s UFC 108.
Vera (11-5) won 3 of his first 4 after moving down to light heavyweight before dropping a unanimous decision to Randy Couture in November and suffering facial fractures in a first-round TKO loss to rising contender Jon Jones in March.
The UFC 125 fight card could include rematches between middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen and lightweight champ Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard.
For the latest UFC 125 news and UFC 125 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Thiago Silva
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booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! how can thiago say that jon jones isnt on his level of competition and then accept a fight with brandon vera?? boooooooooooooooooo!!!
What!? He said that? :D
Oh and lame match by the way. Is Vera the new Keith Jardine? The guy people beat to get back on track…
i dont think dana wants jones 2 fight someone like silva @ this point, it will be interesting 2 see who they match him up with though. they are being very cautious w/jones but if he runs through another opponent as easily as he did his last 2 it will be difficult 2 not put him in line 4 a title shot.
regardless, brandon vera is in trouble here. 4 someone who needs a win as bad as he does, he couldn’t ask 4 a worse opponent. i can see thiago opening up that scar tissue (courtesy of mr. jones) and lettin the blood flow b4 putting his finishing throat-slash stamp on ‘the truth’.
3 awesome fights, as long as silva-sonnen doesn’t get pushed back 2 feb. it should be a great night 4 us fans!
Didn’t they say that Jones gets the winner of Bader vs Lil Nog..so that means he gets Bader next..right?
I think Brandon has a good chance at this one his striking has improved and he’s been in there with heavy weights so he’s not getting KO’d. His foot work is better too. Brandon by decison. This is turing out to be another great card, can’t wait.
Must win for Brandon
I think they are definitely being cautious of Jones, but I do think this is good matchup for both of these fighters. Both coming off injuries, and been out a while, and both coming off of losses. I dont’ know how many more fights Vera has left on his contract, but if Vera loses this one, it wouldn’t surprise me if UFC cuts him. He’s not beating any of the top level guys. I hate to see him cut, but the last fight i saw him fight a good fight was against Couture, beyond that, he hasn’t fought well.
That’s a little harsh, since Randy he’s only fought once!
I think this will be an interesting fight…I like both fighters but man I sure would like Vera to get back on the winning track
channer,
Thiago can say what he wants about jones not being on his level, in the end, he’s the employee and has to fight who the boss says he’s going to fight. He’s also not in a place where he can compare himself to a young hot shot like jon jones. If you ask me, that statement about jones not being on his level was a clever way of ducking jones…and i’m a thiago fan by the way.
I think I called this fight a couple of days ago :) This fight makes perfect sense at the perfect time for both fighters to get back on track. Both fighters coming off of a loss and have fallen down the ranks of a super stacked 205 division. Both fighters still somewhat of a “name” so whoever wins could find themselves on the right road back into the 205 division’s elite.
Since vera has become a great talker and hasn’t backed anything up i’m rooting for thiago on this one.
This card is going to be awesome and like i mentioned before…i am going to be there withour question!
Thiago by MURDER! Ha! That’s my Bsbiz impression, but even I know it will always be “Matt Brown via MURDER!”
I really like this fight, both guys need a win to gain some traction, should be good.
not meaning to sound harsh, just meaning he hasn’t lived up to his own hype that he set for himself. I actually like Vera and thought he won the couture fight. Silva I think is a good matchup for him and can see Vera winning this fight via decision, he’s just a guy that talks a lot and doesn’t back it up.
Looks to be a very interesting fight since both fighter are coming off back2 back losses. I have to go with Thiago on this one via KO. I like Vera, but he just doesn’t seem to have that killer instinct he did in the past. Would have been nice to see Bones Jones vs. Thiago Silva.
Jones didn’t cut Vera he fractured his orbital so if there is scar
tissue, it would be from surgery. Jones is supposedly gonna
get the winner of Bader and LIL Nog anyway.
Stylistically this is an awesome matchup that I can’t wait to see.
I think Vera is the one with a better chin and better leg kicks.
I think both of those will play a role in this one and I see Vera
getting a T(KO) early in the third round of this one.
I believe this is a must win for Vera as well.
your right my bad, just went back and watched the fight again – 4 some reason i thought i remembered a gash, thiago’s still gonna mess him up though!
Well, I saw Vera get his face turned to mush by JJ in Denver and now it looks like we’re going to see his face mashed again in Vegas. Vera has skill and is a great self promoter, but really hasn’t won a big name fight since he beat a fat, depressed Frank Mir and he chokes on all his main card fights. I think we’ll see Silva doing his patented throat slit to the camera while a battered Vera is getting attended on the ground.
I think its painfully clear that Brandon Vera needs to train at an better MMA camp if he’s to remain in the UFC.
His last three losses have been to men who train at better camps than he does [Xtreme Couture and Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting].
After being schooled in Octagon control by Randy Couture and throttled by Jon Jones, I think Vera should head over to Xtreme Couture and ask them to help him save his UFC career, and also to help him avoid catching a wicked beating from what appears to be a p!ssed-off Thiago Silva.
Who also happens to train at a top MMA camp, American Top Team.
If Vera can shake the rectal-cranial inversion which has periodically plagued his career, and get on track with a good camp that will help him formulate and execute a coherent fightplan against a more agressive striker who also happens to rock a Bjj blackbelt, he has the physical tools and skillset to win this fight.
Sure, the ATT-trained Silva is the favorite when you factor in their recent cage appearances, but Vera has a more well-rounded game, and some excellent Greco and freestyle skills to call upon.
Vera, who I believe wears a brownbelt, isn’t exactly unfamiliar with Bjj.
At Xtreme Couture, those skills will be polished and crafted into an overall MMA skillset that will allow him to control Silva for the majority of the fight, and earn a UD win.
Otherwise, Vera’s next “big fight” will be rematching Keith Jardine over at Shark Fights, with the winner likely getting a title shot against Trevor Prangley…
i totally agree with everything you put down. except one thing there is no way that iwould ever put “schooled” in sense of the word, when it comes to that fight. vera was held in spots with very little to no damage at all done to him. and he did get the best of the striking and hurt randy 3 times and even dropped him. vera and everyone at our ufc party thought that randy had just lost. plus there are other refs that would of restarted that fight in many points.
please dont think i am saying this just because its randy and you. i can definately see, after watching that fight a few more times the next day i see how they gave it to randy. dont agree still but it is not like it was a hammil- bisbing dec. and i totally agree with everything else you put. even that he would greatly improve by going to extreme couture. i live in md 20 mins from dc and northern virginia. and i know alot of people have stopped going to virginia because they said it wasnt even better then the one in gaithersburg md by my house. i think vera could do well in smaller orgs but you are totally right he needs a better gym if he wants to compete in the ufc. and of course im assuming vera is still at the same gym i may be wrong.
Vera needs this win really badly. If he can work on the body and legs of Silva he stands a great chance. His ground game is really good the only difference is silvas k.o power. But then again vera has k.o power to, and his legs will play a pivot role in the fight.
brandon looked good against couture regardless of who you think won ( I think vera).
it’s another fight for two fighters who looked on their way to the top before having some tough axx fights.
sometimes this leads to careful fights ending in a decision. but even vera’s carefulness against couture had some awesome body kicks – both are ‘do not blink fighters’
i agree that xtreme couture would probably work wonders. he doesn’t need to fight randy again anyway. i also agree that couture DIDN’T school him. stifle him sure
(again i saw it as a close decision for vera). but Randy always has wise thoughts on match ups – not just ones involving himself either. probably greg jackson’s would be the best IMO.