Brandon Vera

Brandon Michael Vera (born October 10, 1977), or also known by his nickname "The Truth", is a Filipino and American retired mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2002 to 2022, he competed in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions, for promotions such as ONE Championship, where he was the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Champion, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), where he became the 2005 WEC Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background Brandon Michael Vera grew up in a house of seven boys and three girls. He was born to a Filipino father, Ernesto, and an American mother of Italian descent, but raised by his Filipino stepmother, Amelia. He also has two other brothers and another sister outside of the family in which he was raised and they were occasionally involved in his life. Vera was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, and learned Filipino culture growing up; one of the rules in the family was that everyone had to speak Tagalog (which Vera learned from his grandmother who spoke no English), and if any of the children were caught speaking English in the house, Vera's father would punish them.

Vera attended Lake Taylor High School where he excelled in wrestling and earned a four-year athletic scholarship to Old Dominion University. However, he dropped out of Old Dominion after a year and a half when he felt college was not for him, and enlisted himself in the United States Air Force. In the Air Force, Vera joined the wrestling team and trained at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His military wrestling career was cut short in 1999 when he tore ligaments in his right elbow. Arthroscopic surgery repaired the ligaments, but he had nerve damage from the experience, causing him to be unable to use his right arm. He was released from the Air Force on a medical discharge.

Following his discharge from the Air Force, Vera returned to Virginia, where he steadily rehabilitated his arm, and eventually was fit enough to enter the Grapplers Quest submission wrestling competitions on the East Coast. There, his solitary training methods (he did not belong to a camp and trained and cut weight on his own) caught the attention of Lloyd Irvin, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt and coach, who invited him to train with his school. At Irvin's school, he was introduced to mixed martial arts.

Vera then moved to San Diego, California, on December 31, 2003, to accept a training position with City Boxing. At City Boxing, Vera excelled as a trainer and was taken under the wing of owner Mark Dion, who became his manager and introduced him to kickboxing great Rob Kaman. With Vera's success as a trainer and a mixed martial arts fighter, Dion gave Vera partial ownership of City Boxing. Vera lost for the first time via unanimous decision. He also broke his left hand at 4:40 of the first round.

Vera had his second loss at UFC 85 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Fabrício Werdum via TKO. The fight was controversially stopped by referee Dan Miragliotta as Werdum mounted him and landed some ground and pound. After the stoppage, Vera was upset as he felt he was defending himself effectively.

After his two recent losses, Vera dropped down to the Light Heavyweight division, facing IFL alum Reese Andy at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19, 2008, on Spike TV. Vera defeated Andy via unanimous decision.

At UFC 89, Vera lost to Keith Jardine via a narrow split decision. Following the fight, Vera incurred criticism for his performance since his return to the UFC having been victorious in only one of his last four fights.

A more focused Vera appeared on the preliminary card of UFC 96. It was the first time Vera was not on the main card since he made his debut in the UFC. He had an impressive performance against Mike Patt, showing a more aggressive and intense striking approach and stopping him via TKO (leg kicks) in the second round.

Vera fought Polish fighter Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102 after his original opponent, Matt Hamill, was forced to drop out due after suffering a meniscus tear while training. Vera won via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–27).

Vera lost a close fight to Randy Couture via unanimous decision on November 14, 2009, at UFC 105, with the media comparing the decision to a previous UFC event (UFC 104 Machida-Rua) which prompted that MMA judging should be changed. Despite Vera significantly outstriking Couture and successfully defending numerous takedown attempts, judges awarded the victory to Couture. The verdict surprised many people; UFC commentator Joe Rogan was highly critical of the decision during the live event broadcast and in a post-fight interview, Randy Couture admitted that he didn't expect the decision to be made in his favor.

Vera faced Jon Jones on March 21, 2010, at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones and lost via TKO in the first round after an elbow from Jones broke Vera's face in three places.

Vera was defeated by Brazilian Thiago Silva via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, and 30–27) on January 1, 2011, at UFC 125. At the end of the third round, Vera stood up to reveal a badly broken nose. Vera was released by the UFC with a 7–6 record in the organization. However following the fight it was revealed that his opponent Thiago Silva had failed the post-fight drug test. As a result of this, Vera was re-hired by the UFC and the result of the Silva fight was changed to a no contest, resulting in Vera's UFC record changing to 7–5–0–1.

Vera defeated Eliot Marshall on October 29, 2011, at UFC 137 via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 29–28).

Vera was briefly linked to a rematch Thiago Silva on May 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. However, Vera was forced out the bout with an injury.

Vera was expected to face Australian James Te-Huna on July 11, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. However, Vera was pulled from the bout with Te-Huna to face Maurício Rua on August 4, 2012, at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera. After a competitive first and second round, Rothwell defeated Vera by TKO in the third round. Subsequent to the bout, Rothwell tested positive for elevated testosterone levels. The UFC suspended Rothwell for nine months, despite the Wisconsin commission only issuing him with an administrative warning.

Vera was released from the UFC on June 17, 2014, ending his eight-year run with the promotion.

ONE Championship Vera (left) and Mauro Cerilli (right) in the "Conquest of Champions". On July 13, 2014, it was confirmed that Vera had signed with Singapore-based promotion ONE FC. His debut was on December 5, 2014, against Ukrainian striker Igor Subora at ONE Fighting Championship: Warrior's Way. Vera won the fight via knockout after landing a counter straight left at 3:54 minutes in the first round.

Vera was originally scheduled to face English kickboxing specialist Chi Lewis-Parry at ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions on December 11, 2015 to crown the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Champion. However, he faced Taiwanese Paul Cheng instead, who replaced Parry on three days-notice after Parry failed to submit his medical records, did not show up for the pre-event press conference nor board his flight to Manila. Vera won the fight via knockout just twenty six seconds into the first round to win the championship.

After nearly a year away from the cage, Vera returned to face Japanese grappler Hideki Sekine at ONE Championship: Age of Domination on December 2, 2016. He successfully defended his heavyweight title, winning by TKO in the first round.

Vera successfully defended his title via knockout in the first round against Cage Warriors Heavyweight Champion, Mauro Cerilli who was on his promotional debut at ONE Championship: Conquest of Champions on November 23, 2018.

As the first fight of his new ten-bout contract with ONE, Vera challenged Aung La Nsang for the ONE Light Heavyweight Championship at ONE Championship: Century on October 13, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan, thus marking Vera's first fight in ONE Championship to take place outside of the Philippines. Vera lost by TKO in the second round.

At ONE Championship: Fire & Fury on January 31, 2020, Vera announced that he would be defending his ONE Heavyweight Championship on May 29 in Manila, with an opponent yet to be announced. It was later announced that he would be defending his ONE Heavyweight title against Arjan Bhullar at ONE Infinity 2. Their fight was later postponed as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.

Vera faced Bhullar at ONE Championship: Dangal on May 15, 2021, with the fight taking place in Kallang, Singapore. Vera lost to Bhullar by second-round technical knockout, ending his five-year reign as ONE Heavyweight World Champion.

Vera faced Amir Aliakbari on December 3, 2022, at ONE 164. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round and announced his retirement during the post-fight interview.

Post-MMA career After announcing his retirement in December 2022, Vera revealed that he signed a 10-movie deal as an actor in the Philippines. Prior to this announcement, Vera already appeared in a couple of Filipino movies. In 2018, Vera co-starred with Anne Curtis in the Philippine action-thriller BuyBust and starred as the lead actor in a 2022 Filipino zombie movie called Day Zero.

Personal life Vera was married to Kerry Kasik, a fellow former mixed martial artist who fought for the now-defunct Strikeforce. She was featured on the second season of Oxygen's Fight Girls. In September 2014, Kerry filed for divorce, which was finalized two years later.

During the latter stages of his training for UFC 89, Vera was reportedly held at gun point by two men attempting to rob the house in which he was staying. Vera stated that the incident did not affect his performance against Keith Jardine.

Vera started dating Jessica Craven in 2016 and announced their engagement in April 2017. They wed on April 20, 2018, in Guam. Their son, Atreyu Timothy, was born on July 26, 2020.

Vera has numerous tattoos, one of which is the Filipino scribe Baybayin inked on his back, which reads mundo (earth), hangin (wind), apoy (fire) and tubig (water), clockwise.

While staying in the Philippines, he trained Filipino actor Richard Gutierrez in martial arts and was given a role as an assassin for Philippine primetime television show, Kamandag on the GMA Network.

In 2016, Vera revealed that he was relocating to the Philippines full time, to help grow the sport of mixed martial arts in his ancestral homeland. He has been working on opening a branch of Alliance MMA Gym. Vera holds dual citizenship: American (by jus solis) and Filipino (by jus sanguinis).

Championships and accomplishments Kickboxing World Kickboxing Association WKA Super Heavyweight Champion

Grappling Grappler's Quest 8 Time Grappler's Quest Champion

Mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC Encyclopedia Awards Knockout of the Night (One time)

World Extreme Cagefighting 2005 WEC Heavyweight Grand Prix Championship ONE Championship ONE Heavyweight Championship (One time, first) 2 title defenses

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Amir Aliakbari TKO (elbows and punches) ONE 164

Pasay, Philippines Loss

Arjan Bhullar TKO (punches) ONE: Dangal

Kallang, Singapore Loss

Aung La Nsang TKO (punches) ONE: Century – Part 2

Tokyo, Japan Win

Mauro Cerilli KO (punch) ONE: Conquest of Champions

Pasay, Philippines Win

Hideki Sekine TKO (body kick and punches) ONE: Age of Domination

Pasay, Philippines Win

Paul Cheng KO (punch and head kick) ONE: Spirit of Champions

Pasay, Philippines Win

Igor Subora TKO (punch and soccer kicks) ONE FC: Warrior's Way

Pasay, Philippines Loss

Ben Rothwell TKO (punches and knees) UFC 164

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Loss

Maurício Rua TKO (punches) UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera

Los Angeles, California, United States Win

Eliot Marshall Decision (unanimous) UFC 137

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States NC

Thiago Silva NC (overturned) UFC 125

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Jon Jones TKO (elbows and punches) UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones

Broomfield, Colorado, United States Loss

Randy Couture Decision (unanimous) UFC 105

Manchester, England Win

Krzysztof Soszynski Decision (unanimous) UFC 102

Portland, Oregon, United States Win

Michael Patt TKO (leg kicks) UFC 96

Columbus, Ohio, United States Loss

Keith Jardine Decision (split) UFC 89

Birmingham, England Win

Reese Andy Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Fabrício Werdum TKO (punches) UFC 85

London, England Loss

Tim Sylvia Decision (unanimous) UFC 77

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States Win

Frank Mir TKO (knees and punches) UFC 65

Sacramento, California, United States Win

Assuério Silva Submission (guillotine choke) UFC 60

Los Angeles, California, United States Win

Justin Eilers KO (head kick and knee) UFC 57

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Fabiano Scherner TKO (knees and punches) UFC Fight Night 2

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Mike Whitehead TKO (doctor stoppage)

Win

Andre Mussi KO (knees and punches)

Win

Don Richards Decision (unanimous) Next Level Fighting 1

Steubenville, Ohio, United States Win

Adam Rivera TKO (punches) Excalibur Fighting 11

Richmond, Virginia, United States Filmography Film Television Music videos