Brandon Vera Fails to Impress at UFN 14

Brandon "The Truth" Vera will have mixed feelings about his UFC light heavyweight debut at UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 14 at The Pearl at The Palms Saturday night.

The good was that he got the unanimous decision victory over Reese Andy. The bad, he didn’t get the definitive finish he wanted after a tougher than expected cut from heavyweight.

“The 205 cut was tougher than I thought,” he said. “I didn’t think it affected me until me and Reese walked up and I was like ‘woo, I’m tired.”

The judges scored it 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Vera.

Vera wasted no time to get started, firing out two lead head kicks at Andy once the bell rang. Andy responded the way a three-time All-American wrestler should, with a takedown, but Vera bounced back up and resumed his standup attack. Even when subsequently pinned against the fence, Vera looked impressive at his new weight, tossing Andy to the mat and landing in side control. Andy’s defense was solid though, and the two stood as the round ticked away.

The pace of the bout continued to be controlled by Vera in the second, as he scored an early takedown and picked away from long range when he stood with Andy. The pace was measured at best though, and the crowd voiced its displeasure.

In the third Andy continued to be a tough nut to crack for Vera, and though he wasn’t winning the fight, he was showing his toughness, and was getting some shots in of his own sporadically, but not enough to take the bout.

Lightweight contender Frank Edgar pounding out a shutout three round decision over Hermes Franca.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Edgar.

The fighters went to the mat early, with Edgar doing nice work from the top as he pounded away on Franca. Suddenly though, with 2:30 left, Franca sprung into action with an armbar that appeared to be locked in.

Franca came out for round two with a big knot between his eyes and plenty of urgency. Despite this, Edgar refused to back down, and after some crisp exchanges, he scored the takedown and resumed the ground and pound attack that worked so well for him in the opening stanza. With under two minutes to go, Edgar got Franca’s back and continued landing punches, and the onslaught continued even when Franca was able to roll back out of danger.

Trying to turn the tide, Franca – whose face was bruised and swollen – tried with all he had to take Edgar out, but even when he landed, the New Jersey native took each shot without flinching, except for a right knee that appeared to rock him momentarily. In the end though, it was too little, too late for the Brazilian, who saw his return for the first time in a year spoiled.

Heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez probably gained even more believers in his bout tonight as he pounded out fellow up and comer Jake O'Brien in just two minutes and two seconds.

A competitive welterweight bout between up and comers Kevin Burns and Anthony Johnson ended in controversial fashion when an inadvertent poke in the eye by Burns led to an unpopular third round TKO victory for the Iowan.