Interviews
11/11/09 - Brandon Vera on establishing a legacy
Brandon Vera is a man on a journey. Once a much-hyped heavyweight knockout machine, he freely admits his early success translated into a relaxed work ethic. Vera thought he was as good as he could get, until a couple of losses gave him a fresh perspective.
Now at light-heavyweight and with Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture in front of him on Saturday night, Vera has been training in a dedicated manner that is a far cry from the days when he coasted on natural ability.
“I don’t want to say that I am taking it much more ‘serious’, I guess, I just understand it better, if that makes sense? Its like wine man, it gets better with age and I am understanding it more. I was like a sixteen year old kid that had money in his pocket and knew everything. You couldn’t tell me shit and if you did I wasn’t listening. Some things you have to look to on your own and understand things for yourself,” he told Fighters Only today.
“I guess I have come full circle to understand that this is what’s going to define me as a man, this is who I am and what I am supposed to be doing with my life and I need to start treating it as such. I texted Master Lloyd (Irving) a long time ago, I asked him ‘have I peaked?’ He texted me back, ‘LOL’ I was like, ‘what the hell? I am asking him a serious question’ but I just didn’t understand.”
Since adopting a new focus and work ethic, Vera says he has seen new levels that he can achieve, something which has rekindled his excitement in and love for the sport of MMA.
“There’s more, there is still more I can improve on. I can become faster, stronger, more elusive, harder to hit, better on the ground. I really didn’t think there was a way I could be better, I thought I was the best I could get or close to it. I am just now finding out that there is so much more that I can get out of the sport of MMA. I am excited, I am really excited about this sport,” he reveals.
“I want to leave behind a legacy that people can remember me by, like, ‘that motherfucker was one of the greatest of all time’. I want to become BJ Penn, GSP, Anderson Silva. I used to think I was on that level until recently, when I found out that I am not there yet.
“I just want to fight to the best of my abilities, whether I get the stoppage or not. That’s the fight, fighters are getting better day by day. I don’t plan the knockout or look for it, it just kind of happens. If fans are disappointed that I haven’t finished my last couple of fights - keep watching, it’ll come back.”
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