Pinoy MMA’ers Brandon Vera & Mark Munoz @ UFC 102
By KTW
– Senior Editor
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UFC 102(August 29th) will have 2 of the best Filipino mixed martial arts fighters in action. Brandon Vera is on course to put his name back amongst the elite light heavyweights in the world. And the upstart Mark Munoz is looking to bounce back from a devastating knockout(head kicks) from Matt Hamill at UFC 96.
The term ‘pinoy’ as described by urbandictionary.com and wikipedia, is slang for referring to a Filipino male (pinay for Filipino female). “Informally, it’s attached to emigrating Filipino’s, particularly to the U.S, but has since been taken to represent anyone of Filipino descent.” There’s a very small segment that see this term as derogatory. However, the term is excepted and mainstream as well as the more popular ‘flip’ reference. In the video below from brandonvera.com, Vera talks about his honor of being a Filipino-American fighter……
Brandon Vera is a native of Virginia(US). His father is Filipino, and his mother is an Italian-American, contrary to what the video states. Vera takes much pride in his Filipino heritage. As you’ll see in the video, he has strong feelings about his background and things encompassing the Philippines. 
Vera’s mma record is 10-3. 7 of his wins have come by knockout. 6 of those ko’s came against bigger opponents! Early on Vera fought as a heavyweight. But after 2 straight losses to top tier hw’s (Tim Sylvia & Werdum), Vera decided to mainly fight at light heavyweight. Vera is a small heavyweight, and more suited for his current weight class(LH). He still has aspirations of being both a UFC champion in both divisions. He won the vacant Heavyweight title in 2005 in the WEC. He won his for 8 bouts as a mma’er, but is just 2-3 in his last 5 fights. Vera knocked out Frank Mir in ’06 at a time when Mir was slowly becoming the UFC’s next poster boy. Vera was well on his way until losing 2 straight against heavyweights. Now fighting at 205lbs, Vera has lost to Jardine(2008). But in Vera’s last fight, he dominated a less talented fighter but looked quite impressive. Vera says he’s reverting back to his old style when he dominated bigger fighters. And some of that is getting back to his Muay Thai background. Vera states that he simply wants to punish his opponent and do damage to them.
Slated to face Matt Hamill at UFC 102 until Hamill came down with an injury, Vera was looking forward to avenging a lost by Munoz to Hamill. So now, Vera gets to fight “The Polish Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski. Despite an 18-8 record, the powerful bjj fighter is 6-0 in his last 6 fights which were against stiff competition; 2 of which won ‘Submission of the Night’ honors. Soszynski is gaining momentum and is looking for a big win. He’ll be facing a world class striker in Vera. Sounds like a clash in fighting styles.
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Mark Munoz receives very high praise from Vera. 
Vera blamed nervousness for Munoz’s display in the Hamill fight. Vera believes the sky is the limit for Munoz(185lbs-205lbs) who’s nickname is “The Filipino Wrecking Machine.” He’s trained in Muay Thai and Collegiate Wrestling. Munoz became the 1st ever Filipino-American to win a NCAA Division I National Championship in Wrestling. Before his last fight in the octagon, Munoz (5-1) was undefeated, until he went down to Hamill. He faces a stiff match against Nick Catone (7-1). Munoz better bring his A-game!
I’ve seen on many mma message boards of people asking why aren’t there more Filipino’s in mixed martial art, particularly in the smaller dudes weight classes. This culture has a root in combat sports such as muay thai and kickboxing. We’re beginning to see a few more pinoys in MMA. There’s Vera and Munoz(UFC), Robbie Lawler(Strikeforce), and a hot heavyweight prospect in Shane Del Rosario(Strikeforce–7-0 in mma–6 k.o’s) who’s the former WBO Muay Thai Champion. There are a few others including Phillipe Nover(UFC) who’s also a Registered Nurse, and Justin Cruz. Pro Wrestling muscle head David Bautista(WWE) also is flip. Vera has seemed to actively seek out most Filipino mma fighters. He’s worked and trained with Mark Munoz and del Rosario.
So, from Lou Diamond Phillips (actor) who just finished in the top 3% in the ’09 World Series of Poker to frail flame-throwing Tim Lincecum(MLB-Giants) whom many believe is the best current pitcher in all of professional baseball to Nonito Donaire(current boxing champ) who recently won his 21nd straight pro boxing fight, I suspect many flips will be tuning in this Saturday for Brandon Vera’s fight, to see if he’s indeed on his way back.
If Vera wins, he could face the winner of the Keith Jardine/Thiago Silva(UFC 102) match. Or, I can see him facing Dan Henderson or the winner of the Rich Franklin/Vitor Belfort match in September. The first member to post a comment and tell me what’s Nover’s other profession gets 25 freebie points!
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