Yes they do. He is the most promising young blood in the division. Yeah he lost a split decision to Sylvia.....so did Arlovski. AA and Vera have the most "drawing potential" in the US market for the UFC I believe. They ****ed up with AA, they better not **** up with Vera. He is a dynamic, exciting fighter with a great personality. He destroyed Mir and would probably have a damn good chance at beating almost any heavy in the division with the exception of Fedor if he comes. I can even see him outstriking and possibly KOing Couture. Give him a rematch with Timmay too, I bet he'd beat him :deal
Thats like saying the UFC doesn't need Fitch, Kos or Diego in the WW division because they have GSP and Hughes :deal
Veras got an Ego...I think barring a major beatdown..he wont be persuaded to move down. I love Vera but hes not Pacquiao in the humble department. Heard hes making movies there in manila. I got it from Wikepedia. What I like about him is that hes very marketable, charismatic and funny..Hes good for MMA, he'll polarized fans ala Tito Ortiz, maybe not as hated as Tito.
Hes flabby and undersized at Heavy stick him at 205 I bet my income tax that he owns that divison. Even though I thought he arguablly beat Sylvia in that awful fight I cant see him doing a whole lot when it comes to the big picture. Destroying Frank Mir is a good thing on your resume but he did it in striking which is no big deal cause Mirs only striking highlight in his life is when he was dead tired and KOed even the more tired shitty standup and shitty fighter Wes Sims.
I believe they originally asked him to drop to LHW but now with that division clogged with talent he's better off at heavy, I think he'll come back after that Sylvia fight very determined, unfortunatly he has to face Werdum who is another guy who is tough to look good against.
I'm not doubting that he can. He's at this point a proven commodity: A poor man's version of Nog. He can win fights given the opportunity, and his mat work is sick. His wrestling is terrible though, and his stand up is...well he's been fighting for 10 years, and still can't check a low kick. It's not like he hasn't had training partners. He fought in Cro Cop's gym and spent time in Holland training muay thai. It's not going to get better. And Vera can low kick extremely well. I see Vera taking away whatever shitty wrestling shots Werdum can muster early with low kicks, and then out pointing him handily on the feet to a decision.
werdums last fight with gonzaga was f'n pathetic, they both didnt want it, just turned out gonzaga caved first, werdum will get ko'd