The Truth Ducks The Dragon…For Now

Brandon Vera refuses to fight Lyoto Machida

Brandon “The Truth” Vera, despite two straight losses in less than 10 months, is still one of the most marketable UFC fighters. Vera has the power, speed, skills, and length, to beat most of the top fighters in the heavyweight division. With his move to go down to light-heavyweight, has only added more fuel to the furnace that is the 205-pound division.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, on the other hand, is a fast-rising star in the 205lb category. By virtue of a five-fight win streak in the UFC, Machida could be the most promising warrior in the arena.

Put Vera and Machida in the Octagon and you get a surefire hit in so many ways. Both excellent strikers with respectable ground skills, these two mestizos will have blood pumping in their cool veins and temperatures rising in the fight venue. Machida-Vera I (the Japanese-Brazilian’s name gets top billing over the Filipino-American by virtue of a superior fight record) might just set records for pay-per-view and gate receipts.

At 13 and 0 against Vera’s 8-2-0, Machida naturally will become the odds-on favorite in both Vegas betting and fan polls. But an immaculate record is no guarantee of another victory over an inferior slate. We could do a rundown of their strengths and weaknesses:

Speed:
Machida is not only fast, he is slippery. Rich Franklin and Michael McDonald found out about this the hard way. So did Tito Ortiz and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. You want to keep Machida right in front of you so you could hit him, but he almost always stays a safe distance from a punch or leg strike, while moving just enough to hit you with one of his rather unorthodox karate-flavored snap kicks and hand strikes. Grapplers may want to take him down, first distracting him with a punch or fake before lowering for a single or double-leg takedown, but the Shotokan and Brazilian Jiujitsu black-belt Machida is wise to the ways of the ground and pound, or ground and submit. While Vera is more of a striker, a muay Thai stylist who tries to capitalize on his substantial reach to land a blow. Vera has respectable talent on the ground, but it is doubtful if he could escape from a tight triangle the same way Machida did against Tito Ortiz.
Advantage: Machida

Power:
Machida only has three victories by way of knockout (all TKOs) and eight triumphs by decision in his 13-fight win run. That is testament to his reliance on speed and under-reliance on power. Machida will not only wear opponents out by evading their strikes, clinches, and takedowns, he will add on to his foes’ frustrations by hitting them almost at will, but almost never engaging them in an all-out brawl. He will hit and pull out, dance away, then come back for more when he sees an opening. Vera is a kickboxer more than a feint-hit-and-backout artist. Vera will try to pound the man in front of him with a straight punch, a roundhouse or lower kick, and go for the kill if he sees an opening or if his foe is hurt enough. Vera is a tiger shark with the tendency to go on a feeding frenzy if he as much as smells a milliliter of blood. Machida, on the other hand, is a mite, sucking blood in small degrees until he is bloated enough to let go and come back for more at a later time. By then, he will be big enough as a great white shark to munch a huge mouthful.
Advantage: Even

Stamina:
Vera has only gone the distance once in 10 MMA fights. Machida has finished the maximum allotted rounds nine out of 13 times, including eight in the last nine. Vera evidently was on the verge of gassing out against Tim Sylvia in UFC 77, one of the reasons he lost by decision to the “Maine-niac.” Machida comes prepared for his fights, with a cardiovascular conditioning comparable to that of Olympic long-distance runners. Vera, we hazard to guess, doesn’t as much care for jogging and sparring for periods of time longer than five minutes.
Advantage: Machida

Guile:
Hands down, Machida bags this one. The poker face, the cool demeanor, even his ever-polite language that refuses to trash talk, even complimenting his opponents, are hallmarks of an honorable warrior with the calculating powers of an assassin who waits and waits before delivering the death blow. In sharp contrast, Vera is a loudmouth, a loveable one, though, much like his paisan Hulk “Terry Gene Bollea” Hogan. Vera plays to the crowd and the media, generating enough interest for his fights. He gets the attention and the amused smiles, but Machida earns the respect and perhaps the fear.
Advantage: Machida

Machida 4, Vera 1

All these comparisons might ultimately be in vain. Vera just refused to take on Machida for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 14. For reasons of being unprepared, the usually game Vera did admit that a month’s notice isn’t the best way to get ready for a formidable fighter like Machida. He did not rule out, though, a future pairing with Machida.

Vera told www.mmajunkie.com, “For sure, I turned down the fight with Machida. Don’t get me wrong. I’m down to fight Machida but not in my first time cutting down to 205 on four weeks’ notice.”

The MMA fighter cut in the mold of Tito Ortiz in the trash-talk department did pay tribute to Machida by admitting that he can’t simply jump into the ring or Octagon with a supreme athlete like The Dragon: “I want to be ready for Machida. That bastard’s good. I want to make sure I’ve got good sparring and a good game plan for Machida.

“Machida’s not somebody you can just jump in the cage with and fight. I don’t care who you are; if you think you can just beat Machida because you’re tougher than him, he’s probably going to whoop your ass.

“He doesn’t go in to destroy people and finish them. Man, you can’t hit him, and he just keeps touching you. People just get frustrated and pissed off. So, I did turn down the fight with Machida, but I’m down for sure to fight Machida, given good time.”