Do Or Die For Brandon Vera at UFC 89

Brandon Vera’s career inside the Octagon has been something of a roller coaster since his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 2 in late 2005.

However, “The Truth” is now at a crossroads in his career, and he’ll have to pull off an impressive win against "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine next Saturday Night at UFC 89 to get back on the path towards becoming a star.

An undersized heavyweight, Brandon proved he could nonetheless play with the big boys by peeling off four straight wins in the UFC, all of them being first or second round finishes.

However, following a year-long layoff in the midst of contentious contact negotiations, Brandon suffered back-to-back losses to top 10 heavyweights Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum.

After Brandon’s loss to Werdum, he wisely dropped down to the light heavyweight division, which is most certainly a better fit considering his frame, which looks downright frail relative to brutes like Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

However, it appears that Brandon’s first weight drop didn’t go well, as his light heavyweight debut was just a month after the loss to Werdum.

Even though he came out the winner by unanimous decision, Brandon’s performance against Reese Andy at Ultimate Fight Night 14 failed to impress MMA fans stoked to see Brandon fighting in his natural weight class.

If three straight disappointing performances weren’t enough, Brandon received criticism that he was significantly overpaid as he picked up $200,000 (including a $100,000 win bonus), that night, a figure equal to Anderson Silva’s pay for the same event. Needless to say, it is do or die time for Brandon Vera at UFC 89 this Saturday night.

It won't be enough to merely beat Keith Jardine, who is also in need of an impressive win after being demolished by Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84. Brandon must do so in decisive fashion.

And not only to win over fans suspicious that he was overhyped while facing questionable competition, but to win over UFC management, who have been paying him the salary of 10 lightweights for performances that have been lackluster at best.

The only question is, will “The Truth” stand up?

Thanks for reading folks - please post a comment and let everyone know if you think Brandon will come out on top against Keith Jardine! And if you have a minute, visit MMAEruption.com!

UPDATE: I wrote an article with my full UFC 89 predictions, check it out here.