Intelligently Defending 10.04.07: A Year Late -- but Still Plently on the Line

Posted by Ken Kobel on 10.04.2007

Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera was supposed to happen many months ago and be for the UFC Heavyweight Title. It will now take place under different circumstances but is still big for both fighters. In the week's Intelligently Defending we will take a look at what both fighters have on the line.

At UFC 65 ‘Bad Intentions', Tim Sylvia stood victorious after a twenty-five minute battle with Jeff Monson. The then UFC Heavyweight Champion had just made his second successful title defense.

As UFC President Dana White wrapped the title around Sylvia's waist it was clear that the 6'8, 260-pound behemoth was on top of the UFC heavyweight totem pole.

The champion gave his post-fight interview as the crowd booed the man who they thought had lost his edge. Not concerned with the fans reaction, Sylvia enjoyed the victory – life was good. As he prepared to exit the octagon the Miletich Fighting Systems product was confronted by the man who many thought would get the next crack at dethroning the champ.

Brandon Vera.

Earlier in the night, Vera had scored a brutal TKO victory over former champion Frank Mir. This marked his fourth UFC victory in a row, three of which he ended in round one. The rising heavyweight was now ready to go for the gold.

Then circumstance stepped in.

Soon after his UFC 65 victory Brandon Vera entered into a contract dispute with his former manager Mark Dion. The fighter who was so close to title shot was now on the sidelines for a better part of a year. It looked as if Vera's UFC career may be over.

In mid-August it was announced that ‘the Truth' would be returning to the octagon. Vera has split from his former management team and signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC. Unfortunately for Brandon, he is back at square one in terms of title contention.

The UFC heavyweight division has undergone a renaissance since the last time Vera did battle.

For starters, there is a new sheriff in town. After Vera was not able to challenge Sylvia for the heavyweight title a replacement needed to be found. This replacement came in the form of Randy Couture. We all know how that turned out.

The reason Couture was chosen for a title shot in the first place was the lack of legitimate contenders in the division.

At the time of Vera's hiatus, Sylvia was the top heavyweight in the UFC and there were few fighters to challenge him. Jeff Monson worked his way to a shot without beating a single contender and was then beaten with ease. Andrei Arlovski had just dropped two in a row to Big Tim and was out of the title picture. Frank Mir's comeback had been a failure up to that point. After these men, there was no one in the heavyweight class that could even be considered worthy of a shot. Vera was the only person who could be picked as a title contender – and even he had only Mir's name on his resume.

Fast forward to the present day and you will see that the heavyweight division has gone from the thin group of talent it had last year – to a powerhouse.

Name such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Heath Herring, Mirko CroCop, and Fabricio Werdum have been added to the ranks. Cheick Kongo and Gabriel Gonzaga have emerged as rising stars. Arlovski has put together a win streak that has him back in the title picture. Even Mir is starting to get back on track.

Talk about a makeover. The 2006 division compared to the 2007 version looks like a ‘before and after' picture on a Bowflex commercial.

Title chances will become few and far between for fighters with such a stacked division. In fact, the winner of the upcoming Sylvia/Vera bout will probably have to win another fight afterwards before they are even considered for a shot.

Still, both fighters have plenty riding on the outcome of this contest.

For Sylvia, it is a chance at redemption and the opportunity to make a statement.

In his last fight Tim was dominated by a man who many thought he would handle with ease. Instead, the former champ failed to win a single round in route to a humiliating defeat. How could the champion of the world lose to a 45-year old man? Well, these things happen when that man is Randy Couture. In fact, hindsight says that Sylvia's loss was not that terrible in the long run. After all, ‘the Natural' just dominated an upstart Gabriel Gonzaga in the same fashion he dominated Tim. So obviously, this is not your average 45-year old. Sylvia has nothing to be ashamed of as long as he comes back stronger at UFC 77 and shows that he is dedicated to working his way back to the belt he treasures so badly.

The fight will also give Sylvia a chance to regain something that many fans say he has lost – a killer instinct. All but two of Sylvia's first nineteen wins came via TKO or submission. In 2006, as Sylvia inched closer to title shot against Andrei Arlovski a change seemed to come over his fighting style. It was as if he started fighting not to lose, rather than to win. He soon got the reputation of a boring fighter.

On October 20, Sylvia will get a chance to dispel this notion. In order to do so he will need to come at Vera like ‘the Maine-iac' of old - guns blazing. With the division being as crowded as it is, the UFC will be hesitant to give out title opportunities to boring fighters. It would be in Tim's best interest to finish Vera and reclaim his spot in the weight class.

While Sylvia has plenty invested in this fight, Brandon Vera has just as much. For Vera this is his chance to step up to the ‘big boys' – both figuratively and literally.

In the figurative sense, this fight gives Vera a chance to fight a world-class heavyweight. While ‘the Truth' sports a perfect record, many have criticized the hype he has received by citing that he has not faced any top competition. Let's face it; Justin Eilers, Assuerio Silva, and Fabiano Scherner are not exactly top-ten material. Now Vera has an opportunity to prove his worth. Sylvia is a two time world champion and will be Vera's biggest test to date. It would be a huge feather in Brandon's hat if he can take out the big man. It would also justify the large amount of money he will be making in his new contract.

The literal sense of what this fight means to Vera has to do with the size of his opponent. It is well documented that Brandon is a small heavyweight and could easily fight at 205-pounds if he wanted to. So far he has been able to win despite fighting bigger men – but there has always been a question of how he would fair against the larger heavyweights in the division.

Well, they do not get any bigger than Tim Sylvia. At 6'8 and every bit of 260 pounds, it is unlikely that Vera will ever face a larger opponent than Sylvia. The question of whether or not Brandon is too small for the heavyweight division will be answered in spades. If Vera comes out of the fight with a passing grade he could very well be on his way to bigger things.

This fight has been a year in the making and there is still plenty at stake.

That is all for this week. Get me some emails regarding this column or anything in the world of MMA at [e-mail].