Brandon Vera survives Marshall in UFC

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Brandon “The Truth” Vera survived a furious final round assault by Eliot Marshall and escaped with a unanimous decision victory to get back into the thick of things in a non-title light heavyweigth bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 137 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday.

Vera, back in the octagon after his loss to Thiago Silva in a no-contest due to a drug issue, built enough cushion in the first two rounds and hang tough enough in the third and final round amid a ferocious onslaught by Marshall to escape with the win.

All judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of the 34-year-old Vera, who has improved to 11-5-0 (win-loss-draw) while the 31-year-old Marshall, whose built, height and looks are exactly like the former, fell to his third straight defeat and fourth overall against 11 triumphs.

It was actually Vera’s first win since he won via another unanimous decision over Krzysztof Soszynski two years ago but lost to former heavyweight champion Randy Couture, reigning light heavy titlist Jon “Bones” Jones and then the controversial Silva fight.

Vera seized the initiative early by displaying a variety of attacking skills, from leg kicks, body punches and even a flying knee and fended Marshall’s several attempts in clenching him to the ground to take a very slow and not so eventful opening round.

The second round went to Vera as well, as he changed the pace by taking Marshall to the ground in a ground-and-pound battle and at one point the Fil-Am got his American foe to half-guard and dropped elbows from the position.

And then Vera lost steam as he got staggered by a crisp right hand by Marshall, who then dropped the Fil-Am with another right he followed with a barrage of blows from the top that the former covered mostly enough to allow himself to recover and get back to his feet.

To eat some time, Vera held Marshall against the cage for almost a whole minute before the latter manages to get his opponent down with another rain of punches and appeared on the verge of winning when he transitioned to an arm bar and then a triangle that the Fil-Am found a way to defend until the end of the match.