Brandon Vera hype

I think Joe Rogan's main point was, if this was the Vera of more than 5 years ago - then it would be a helluva fight. I don't think anyone actually believed that was going to be the case. I did agree with Randy Couture who said, Vera's in a position now where he's got nothing to lose, and as a result could make him a very dangerous person. But all those comments were sort of prefaced with the big "IF". Again, I just feel like UFC needs to let Vera go since this is frankly getting a little embarassing. And if this ain't it, then he must have major horseshoes, because he's failed to impress anyone in over 5 years.
To me, what stuck out more was how UNimpressive Shogun looked. It should have been utter destruction. But instead he struggled at times. I agree, Machida for the title shot was the best possible option.

 

The company must love his personality because that's the only reason I can think of that's keeping him from getting flushed out of the UFC roster. I have no idea why the hell he was in the main event this past weekend. He should've been out of the UFC 3 or 4 fights ago.

Another guy Rogan loves to dick ride on is Joe Lauzon. I couldn't bear to listen to Rogan last night. Lauzon is a good fighter but Rogan couldn't get off his knob and kept criticizing Varner when he was doing just fine (until he got subbed).

 

I've only watched their first fight once, but I remember thinking that Shogun took the win on my mental card pretty easily.

If they fight again, Machida picks him apart and quite possibly stops him IMO. Machida looked sharp as hell last night, Shogun looked pretty toothless.

:hat

 

I think it's just that they see him as being one of those guys who is very marketable if he can put it all together.

And I suspect that he's one of those guys who is a beast in the gym, but just can't reproduce his form in the cage for whatever reason.

I didn't get that. Rogan was praising both guys I felt. Most of his comments were about how good the fight was, rather than how good Lauzon was. But why wouldn't he love Lauzon, anyway?

The guy is obviously a company man, a nice guy who is very professional in his approach. The UFC doesn't have to worry about Joe Lauzon embarrassing them in or out of the cage.

Also his style is all action, he's come up with at least two major upsets in the first minute of the fight, and he'll go for the finish every time he sniffs a chance. Rogan never has to struggle to find something to talk about during a Lauzon fight, becuase there's always something going on. Basically he's a reliable employee who has the sort of personality and attitude towards his work that makes his co-workers and bosses want to see him do well. :good

:hat

 

He was cut by the UFC after losing to Thiago Silva. That loss got overturned when Silva tested positive so he got brought back into the organisation. And he was in the main event because there was nobody else to fill the spot at short notice.

 

You basically just enhanced my point. They like Vera for reasons outside of his performance inside the octagon. Mayhem Miller is someone I'd consider "marketable." Why the double standard? I don't really care about their exception to the rule. I just hope they come to their senses and realize Vera is just not cutting it.

I like Lauzon. I felt Rogan was laying it on a bit too thick. Each time Rogan would yell out of excitement when he sees Lauzon coming on strong, Varner would turn the tide and make Rogan look silly. Rogan also kept pointing out Varner's questionable conditioning which I disagree with. He was doing fine. Joe made it sound like he was gonna collapse out of exhaustion.

Anyway, I find the mute button very useful. I'll keep it nearby just in case Rogan has another romantic explosion for a fighter he admires.

 

The UFC is there to make money. Some fighters are capable of generating more money for them than other fighters are.

For whatever reason, they think Vera is capable of much more than he's shown. He gets more chances than other fighters do. Why is that? We don't know for sure. It's annoying, sure, but it's the way combat sports have always been. David Tua got one title shot in his entire career. Golota got three in a row against three different guys and went 0-2-1. :conf

Yeah maybe he went over the top with Varner's conditioning.

:hat

 

4 pages deep, seriously?!!!?

How the **** is Brandon Vera so interesting? He doesn't suck. He's not a champion. He can beat you if you're not top level. He can't if you are. He is just a notch better of a gate keeper than Kongo.

What's all the fuss about?

 

The whole point is that the UFC and it's employees dare to try to market its fights and fighters by emphasising and/or embellishing their achievements while downplaying and/or ignoring their weak points. How do they sleep at night? How can they even look at themselves in the mirror?


Imagine the promo:

"Shoguns opponent for this match up is Brandon Vera.... at one point we thought he was good, but as it turns out he's pretty average... but you know what? It's the best we could do, so deal with it. Besides, Shogun hasn't looked great lately either, so it's not like we could put him in with a live opponent anyway."

 

If Vera only had the fighting heart of Mark Munoz.

 

What heart did Munoz show in his last fight? atsch

 

What about his fights with Kendall Grove, Maia and Leben among others?

 

Bum Fights. :-(

He should get his ears pinned back.

 

Always wondered about the hype with Vera aswell.

He fought with a lot of heart against shogun but truth be told, shogun made Vera his beta. Vera wasn't enjoying a second of that fight it showed when he was looking away, wincing, curled up. shogun was hard as guts pushing the fight. He didn't look his best, age is showing but he isn't shot. His cardio was shot compared to his typical condition


Vera got enough publicity for a couple more fights but he isn't anything special