UFC 85 Preview: Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum

Brandon Vera (8-1, 4-1 UFC) vs. Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1, 1-1 UFC)

Tom Cruise famously screamed "I Want the Truth!" Well the truth for the UFC is their heavyweight division is melting before their very eyes. Andrei Arlvoski, Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture have all left. Now they look to Brandon 'the Truth' Vera and Fabricio 'Vai Calvo' Werdum to re-ignite interest in the ailing division.

Werdum is a PRIDE vet who lost in a snooze-fest to Andrei Arlvoski. He rebounded with his second victory over Gabriel 'one lucky head kick' Gonzaga. While being a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter his last two fights have been mostly waged while standing. The UFC hopes that trend will continue with the pairing against Brandon Vera. 'The Truth' has defeated former Heavyweight Champ and legit Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Frank Mir. But Vera recently lost to Tim Sylvia, in another stand up snooze-fest. Vera is an undersized heavyweight and Sylvia easily controlled his body and slowed the fight way down. Werdum has the advantage on the ground and in the clinch so Vera will look to keep the distance and strike from afar with leg kicks.

Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are scheduled to fight for the Heavyweight belt, making the victor of this fight probable number one contender. The UFC is probably rooting for Vera since Werdum has already lost to Nogueira. Vegas has Vera as the favorite at -200 and Werdum at +160. Our prediction boring fight, Werdum wins by split decision.