Brandon Vera lost to Thiago Silva at UFC 125 on New Year’s Day. Silva’s drug test was the only one that reportedly has not yet been cleared, and many people suspect he was using PEDs. Increasing the suspicion was Silva’s removal from his scheduled fight against Rampage Jackson at UFC 130. Also supporting the thought that Silva was on something was Vera’s comments on The Ryan Loco Show this week.
Midway through their podcast, Vera said (as transcribed by MMA News), “I roll with Phil Davis. I roll with Travis Browne. I roll with Junior dos Santos. I roll with the Nogueira brothers. When I’m in the half guard, underneath somebody and I have their leg, and my other leg’s half-cocked up on their arm pit, I can rock people back and forth. I can rock you and either stand back up or get the sweep. I remember when I was underneath him and I was pushing him back and forth, I was thinking, ‘What the hell? Why is this guy so damn strong?’ And I remember thinking during the fight, ‘Yo, I need to start lifting weights again.’ He was one of, if not the strongest dudes I ever rolled with in my life.”
Another interesting comment by Vera was that he doesn’t care if Thiago Silva used PEDs, just as long as the playing field is even. He even added that he was bench pressing 305 pounds at the time of the fight, making it even more suspicious that Silva could physically dominate him to that extent. So Brandon Vera isn’t against PED use, he just wants everyone to be equal, and his commentary about the fight supports the notion that Thiago could have been juicing. Hmm, where have we heard something similar?
