Confidence or psychotic delusion? You make the call: Brandon Vera told UFC.com’s Rhett Butler that he still has designs on living up to the audacious promise made earlier in his career when he swore he’d own both the light-heavyweight and heavyweight titles.
Hopefully, Vera can forgive the doubters: he’s been alternating wins and losses since 2006, with those wins coming against seriously mixed-value fighters like Mike Patt and Reese Andy. (And at this point, a loss to Tim Sylvia on your record isn’t doing anyone any favors.)
More disillusioning is the idea that Vera would consider that feat to be the end of his career, echoing B.J. Penn’s statement that he likely would have retired if he had defeated Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title in January. Since when is winning a title or two the closing chapter? Isn’t that when your career should be taking off?
Unflinchingly optimistic or not, Vera will have his hands plenty full with vowel-hating Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102 on August 29.