Brandon Vera grew up in a house of seven boys and three girls.
52 Facts About Brandon Vera
2.
Brandon Vera was born to a Filipino father, Ernesto, and an Italian mother, but raised by his Filipino stepmother, Amelia.
3.
Brandon Vera has two other brothers and another sister outside of the family in which he was raised and they were occasionally involved in his life.
4.
Brandon Vera's military wrestling career was cut short in 1999 when he tore ligaments in his right elbow.
5.
Brandon Vera was released from the Air Force on a medical discharge.
6.
Brandon 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.
7.
Brandon Vera won the fight against Adam Rivera via TKO in the first round.
8.
Brandon Vera fought and won another bout in 2004 before entering the WEC 13 Heavyweight Tournament in 2005, where he won two bouts in one night, including a bout against The Ultimate Fighter 2's Mike Whitehead in the final.
9.
Brandon Vera then moved to San Diego, California, on December 31,2003, to accept a training position with City Boxing.
10.
At City Boxing, Brandon 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.
11.
Brandon Vera made his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 2 on October 3,2005, against BJJ black belt Fabiano Scherner.
12.
Brandon Vera won the fight via KO due to knees from the clinch midway through the second round.
13.
At UFC 60, Brandon Vera defeated Assuerio Silva with a guillotine choke in the first round.
14.
White had been telling the media prior to UFC 65 that the winner of the Brandon Vera-Mir fight would face the winner of the Tim Sylvia-Jeff Monson bout, which was being held that same night, for the championship.
15.
Brandon Vera's victory secured him a championship bout against then title-holder Tim Sylvia, but a contract dispute with the UFC forced him to be replaced by Randy Couture.
16.
Brandon Vera's first fight was at UFC 77 against Sylvia, who had recently lost the UFC Heavyweight Championship to Couture.
17.
Brandon Vera broke his left hand at 4:40 of the first round.
18.
Brandon Vera had his second loss at UFC 85 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum via TKO.
19.
At UFC 89, Brandon Vera lost to Keith Jardine via a narrow split decision.
20.
Brandon Vera had an impressive performance against Mike Patt, showing a more aggressive and intense striking approach and stopping him via TKO in the second round.
21.
Brandon 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.
22.
Brandon 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 which prompted that MMA judging should be changed.
23.
Brandon Vera was defeated by Brazilian Thiago Silva via unanimous decision on January 1,2011 at UFC 125.
24.
Brandon Vera defeated Eliot Marshall on October 29,2011 at UFC 137 via unanimous decision.
25.
Brandon Vera was briefly linked to a rematch Thiago Silva on May 15,2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs Poirier.
26.
However, Brandon Vera was forced out the bout with an injury.
27.
Brandon Vera was expected to face Australian James Te-Huna on July 11,2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs Weidman.
28.
However, Brandon Vera was pulled from the bout with Te-Huna to face Mauricio Rua on August 4,2012 at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs Brandon Vera.
29.
Brandon Vera was defeated via TKO late in the fourth round.
30.
Brandon Vera showed great heart after being rocked early in the second round, but as both fighters showed early signs of fatigue in the late stages of the second round, Brandon Vera ultimately succumbed to Rua's power.
31.
Brandon Vera returned to the Heavyweight division after an absence of 5 years and faced Ben Rothwell at UFC 164 on August 31,2013.
32.
Brandon Vera was released from the UFC on June 17,2014, ending his eight-year run with the promotion.
33.
On July 13,2014, it was confirmed that Brandon Vera had signed with Singapore-based promotion ONE FC.
34.
Brandon Vera's debut was on December 5,2014 against Igor Subora at ONE Fighting Championship: Warrior's Way.
35.
Brandon Vera won the fight via knockout after landing a counter straight left at 3:54 minutes in the first round.
36.
On December 11,2015, Brandon Vera faced Paul Cheng in the main event at ONE Championship: Spirit of Champions.
37.
Brandon Vera won the fight via knockout just 26 second into the first round to win the ONE Heavyweight Championship.
38.
Brandon Vera successfully defended his heavyweight title, winning by TKO in the first round.
39.
Brandon 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.
40.
Brandon Vera faced Bhullar at ONE Championship: Dangal on May 15,2021.
41.
Brandon Vera lost to Bhullar by second-round technical knockout, ending his five-year reign as ONE Heavyweight World Champion.
42.
Brandon Vera faced Amir Aliakbari on December 3,2022, at ONE 164.
43.
Brandon Vera lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round and announced his retirement during the post-fight interview.
44.
In 2018, Brandon 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.
45.
Brandon Vera's former wife, Kerry, is a mixed martial artist who formerly fought for the now-defunct Strikeforce.
46.
Brandon Vera was featured on the second season of Oxygen's Fight Girls.
47.
Brandon Vera started dating Jessica Craven and announced their engagement in April 2017.
48.
Brandon Vera has a tattoo on his back, inked in the Filipino writing system called Baybayin.
49.
Brandon Vera stated that the incident did not affect his performance against Keith Jardine.
50.
In 2016, Brandon Vera revealed that he was relocating to the Philippines full time, to help grow the sport of mixed martial arts in his ancestral homeland.
51.
Brandon Vera has been working on opening a branch of Alliance MMA.
52.
Brandon Vera holds dual citizenship: American and Filipino.