Brandon Vera has been released from the UFC, after eight years under the promotion's banner, a report by FOX Sports said.
In another report by Bloody Elbow, Brandon Vera's UFC release was not formally announced by the organization, but did confirm that he is no longer fighting under the company's banner.
The 36-year old Filipino-American fighter was one of the top mixed martial arts prospects in 2005, when he fought as a heavyweight for the now defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). He won the WEC heavyweight Grand Prix tournament by defeating three-time All-American wrestler Mike Whitehead.
It was this victory that led to Brandon Vera's UFC stint, as the most prominent mixed martial arts promotion company in the world signed him for his first fight at Ultimate Fight Night 2 in October 2005 against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Fabiano Scherner. "The Truth" won the fight via second round TKO.
Brandon Vera's first big UFC success came after he defeated Frank Mir three fights after at UFC 65. "The Truth" put on a dominant performance against Mir, who already won the heavyweight title back then, but had to vacate it soon after.
Beating a big name like Frank Mir made the Filipino-American fighter one of the heavy favorites in the UFC. Eventually, "The Truth" himself declared that he would be one of the rarities who can win titles in two different weight classes.
This promise was not fulfilled, however, after two dismal performances against two more top heavyweight contenders during the time: former champion Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum. These two straight losses urged him to move down to light heavyweight.
Brandon Vera's UFC run at 205-pound was not an illustrious one either. Notwithstanding his victories over journeymen fighters such as Krzysztof Soszynski, Mike Patt and Reese Andy, "The Truth" lost to Keith Jardine, former two-division world champion and Hall-Of-Famer Randy Couture, current champion Jon Jones and Thiago Silva.
However, his fight with Silva was overturned to a no contest, due to post-fight drug test issues.
"The Truth" did have one last impressive run against former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC on FOX on August 2012. Despite being defeated via fourth-round TKO, he was able to bring the PRIDE FC legend to deep waters throughout the majority of the fight, which made him win back the fans' praises.
Brandon Vera's last UFC fight was against Ben Rothwell back at heavyweight at UFC 164 in August 2013, wherein he lost via third round TKO. He currently holds an MMA record of 12-7, with 1 no contest.
In a separate report by MMA Junkie, Brandon Vera had already been previously cut by the UFC, but had reinstated him afterwards.
