Comments on: UFC 74 Conference Call Notes: Vera signs new deal and could fight Sylvia; GSP talks sports psychologist; HBO information; and more!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:21:03 +0000

I am glad that Vera is back soon and that it seems he will be for a while in the UFC. He definitely has some tremendous talent. I totally agree with the Arlovski/Nog fight, that is if Vera is fighting Sylvia for sure. But with the staph infection and surgery he had it seems like that might be a tough call right now. I’d be all for a Arlovski/Vera fight for UFC 77 though. That card needs a boost. If you give it Silva/Franklin, Vera/Arlovski and Okami/MacDonald that’s a pretty good group of fights along with a bunch of decent other fights, although none really that meaningful.

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By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:54:40 +0000

New site is fuckin’ sick, Sam.

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By: steve

steve — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:39:02 +0000

They should just have Vera on the New Year’s Eve card.

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By: Ivan Trembow

Ivan Trembow — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:23:10 +0000

Also, regarding the uneducated statement that was made during the conference call that “if you had the government test the NFL players like they do MMA fighters, “there would be no football,” I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean.

Is that a reference to the fact that it would mean a large percentage of NFL players would NEVER be tested (not rarely, but never) if their drug testing was like MMA’s?

Is that a reference to the fact that it would mean that NFL players would not have any year-round or out-of-competition drug testing if their program was like MMA’s?

Or was that a reference to the fact that NFL players would always know exactly when they would be drug tested (on the day of an event) if their drug testing was like MMA’s?

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By: Ivan Trembow

Ivan Trembow — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:22:46 +0000

PS: The article on MMAWeekly about Vera’s comments from December 2006 is up at
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3117

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By: Ivan Trembow

Ivan Trembow — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:22:27 +0000

Not surprising to see that there is revisionist history at work with regard to the Brandon Vera story.

In fact, it was not just Gary Shaw and Vera’s old manager who made public statements about that situation. In a December 2006 L.A. Times article, Vera said that he has one fight remaining on his UFC contract, and that he wants his next contract to be with “whoever wants to take care of me the best.”

Around the same timeframe, Vera said the following to the Orange County Register at a time when Zuffa was buying MMA promotions left and right: “How long have McDonald’s and Burger King been around? Yesh, hell yeah, competition is definitely good. It helps the fighters in more ways than one. It helps us get paid better. You know, we can ask for more money, we can ask for more promotional stuff. By having competition out there, it’s good for everybody, I believe… [it’s good for] the companies because it creates more awareness of MMA, and [it’s good for] the fighters because it gives us leverage a little bit… a little bit (laughs). It doesn’t give us a lot of leverage, but it gives us some.”

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By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:21:56 +0000

Classic last line in your recap, Sam.

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By: Sam Caplan

Sam Caplan — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:21:33 +0000

Kris, Dana didn’t elaborate on when Vera would be fighting.

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By: UFCDaily.com

UFCDaily.com — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:21:07 +0000

Did White elaborate on whether the match with Sylvia and Vera would be at UFC 77. Since he has Staph and a back injury I am doubting the fight will be on the October card but he could be ready in time, it just seems unlikely.

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By: Brandon Vera To Return As Early as October | UFC Daily

Brandon Vera To Return As Early as October | UFC Daily — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:18:03 +0000

[...] According to Sam Caplan Dana White confirmed in the UFC 74 conference call that Brandon Vera has signed a new contract with [...]

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