Brandon Vera’s mind was ready to rematch Thiago Silva before his arm was.
Vera originally agreed to rematch Silva at UFC on Fuel TV 3 in Fairfax, Va., on May 15, but less than 24 hours after verbally accepting the bout, he had to withdraw due to an injury. That injury, Vera said, was to his arm, which was hurt in his UFC 137 fight against Elliot Marshall.
Vera admits he “jumped the gun†in accepting the bout due to the excitement from getting another chance to fight Silva.
“When I heard Thiago Silva (and) Virginia, I was like, ‘What?! Man, yes!’†Vera told MMAWeekly Radio Weekend Edition.
Vera said he was cleared by one of his physicians to compete, but subsequent physical examinations by other doctors proved he was in no shape to fight. As a result, the rematch with Silva was removed from the fight card.
Following the unanimous decision win over Marshall, Vera said he went to the emergency room and was put in a sling, as well as given an MRI within 15 minutes of being there.
The fighter out of San Diego blames only himself for the injury. Vera said he put himself in the position to allow Marshall to apply the armbar that caused the injury, describing it as excruciating.
“It sucked,†he said. “It wasn’t one my favorite things.â€
Silva now faces Vera’s teammate, Alexander Gustafsson, at UFC on Fuel TV 2 in Sweden on April14. Due to a scheduling conflict, it is unlikely Vera will corner his teammate when he faces Silva, but the two will surely train for the fight together.
Silva originally defeated Vera by unanimous decision at UFC 125, but the match was ruled a no-contest following Silva failing a drug test. Silva’s urinalysis samples showed inconsistencies with human urine. He later admitted to using a prescription steroid.
