A prepared Thiago Silva returns from almost a year off, has fun and makes Brandon Vera pay

admin | Jan 04, 2011 | Comments 0

"I was slapping at him to distract him so I could go for the choke. I am not here to choose any fighter; I want to fight the best that the UFC has."

"I was injured before and I trained hard for the fight, I want to become better every fight. Brandon Vera was talking a lot during our fight and he said a lot of bad things during the fight to get me aggravated which caused our run in at the end of the first round."

Light heavyweight Brandon Vera proved once again the nose-to-fist defense is not the business. After getting thoroughly handled for much of his UFC 125 affair against Thiago Silva on Saturday, the organization posted an up close look at “The Truth’s” busted beak.

Vera was taken to the hospital immediately following his unanimous decision defeat to the Brazilian and was unable to attend the post-fight press conference. Silva, on the other hand, was sitting front and center discussing his first win since putting Keith Jardine down at UFC 102 back in August 2009.

“I train everything from wrestling to Muay Thai and the whole fight I was trying to finish the fight.,” Silva said after bumping his record to 15-2. “I let my hands go. I love the clinch and that’s the place I want to be.

“He said he was going to knock me out and I felt like he was disrespecting me.”

Not too many moons ago, Vera was considered one of the sport’s top up-and-comers. Fast forward through a bitter contract dispute and subsequent 3-6 Octagon record, including three consecutive losses, and the Filipino-American now finds himself staring the unemployment line dead in the eyes.

The Muay Thai specialist was perfect through his first eight professional MMA scraps, however currently holds a 11-6 record.