On Saturday, Aug. 29, Brandon "The Truth" Vera (10-3) -- a once promising undefeated heavyweight Muay Thai specialist -- will make his fourth professional start as a 205-pound light heavyweight when he squares off against Krzysztof Soszynski (18-8-1), a semifinalist on season eight of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

"The Polish Experiment" replaced an injured Matt Hamill, Vera's original opponent, however "The Truth" has no plans to overlook the dangerous Team Quest product. It all goes down at UFC 102: "Couture vs. Nogueira" airing live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.

After contract issues kept him on the sidelines from November 2006 to October 2007, Vera's long-awaited return to the heavyweight division did not go as planned. He injured his hand in a loss to Tim Sylvia and came up on the short end of a questionable referee stoppage against Fabricio Werdum.

Shortly thereafter, Vera made the decision to try his luck in the stacked 205-pound division. A tough weight cut left Vera drained and led to an unimpressive showing in his win over Reese Andy at Ultimate Fight Night 14: "Silva vs. Irvin."

Things didn't get any better with a razor-thin split decision loss to one of the division's top contenders in Keith Jardine just three months later at UFC 89: "Bisping vs. Leben" -- a loss he credits for making him the fighter he is today and one he thinks is far superior to any Brandon Vera UFC fans have seen.

A dominating undercard victory over Mike Patt back in March at UFC 96: "Jackson vs. Jardine" -- which he won by absolutely destroying Patt's legs with low kicks -- now has fans buzzing about the potential of a focused Brandon Vera in the light heavyweight division.

We recently got the opportunity to catch up "The Truth" to talk about his upcoming fight, potential showdowns in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, his recent string of bad luck and much, much more.

Check it out:

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let's start off talking a little bit about the move to light heavyweight. Tell us about some of the differences in training - weight cutting, stamina, etc. - now compared to last year when you first made the move to 205 pounds.

Brandon Vera: Oh man, all of it's changed, I guess would be the easiest answer for all of that. My training is a lot more serious. My eating habits are a lot more serious. I treat this as a business now. It isn't a hobby anymore. I don't play around in the gym anymore. I don't try to laugh and giggle and have a good time until after we're done training.

So a lot has changed since I dropped down to 205 after my first fight. I'm not even going to say after my first fight. After my Jardine fight everything started changing.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So do you feel like you belong in the light heavyweight division?

Brandon Vera: I don't belong in any weight class. I figure I want to fight everybody. If I can move back up to heavyweight, I will. If I have to stay at 205, I will. Man, I want to fight the guys with the biggest mouths in the end that think they're the best. I'm game for whatever.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Well, you had a lot of success as a heavyweight as well. You dominated Frank Mir, who went on to claim the interim title. You looked fantastic against Tim Sylvia - another former champion - before getting hurt in that fight.

But some of these guys that are sort of taking over the heavyweight division now, like the Brock Lesnars and the Shane Carwins, are kind of winning with their size. Those would have to be difficult matchups for a smaller heavyweight like yourself to deal with. Is that part of the reason you made the move down a weight class, or is there still a chance you would like to move back up and maybe fight some guys like that?

Brandon Vera: Hell yes! Hell no and hell yes! (Laughs) Let's put it like this, I beat Frank Mir in 69 seconds and Brock couldn't beat Frank until the second round.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Tell us how your training is coming along for your UFC 102 fight with Krzysztof Soszynski. Where did you train? How long was your camp? Sparring partners, etc.?

Brandon Vera: I trained here at Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista. It's my gym. It's a 15,000 square foot facility. Man, the training partners, the list is ridiculous, man. There's Travis Brown, Mark Munoz, Phil Davis, Shane Del Rosario, Aaron Beach, Dominick Cruz, Junior Dos Santos, Rodrigo Nogueira. There were some other national champ wrestlers that came in and beat my ass. The list goes on and on.

It's a ridiculous list. Then Lloyd (Irvin) flew in from the east coast to here. Then he flew in about six or seven guys, and they got to whooping my ass too. The camp is about 10 weeks long. About eight to 10 weeks long.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Training that long and hard for a fight, how does it affect your physical and mental preparation getting your opponent switched up on you halfway through?

Brandon Vera: It didn't matter. It didn't matter at all. I don't give a damn who it was. Everyone was like, "Oh Matt (Hamill) is out." I was like, "Okay, fuck him, he's out. Just let me know who the replacement is." They're like, "You don't care?" I'm like, "I don't give a shit. Whoever they put in front of me, my job is to whoop his ass regardless. I don't give a damn who he is."

So I was like, "Just let me know when you have a name." I think it was like ... four or five days later that it was confirmed Krzysztof (is who) we were fighting.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Being a guy who prefers to keep fights standing. How do you incorporate all those sparring partners you mentioned earlier into helping you prepare for a guy like Hamill or Krzysztof who might want to take you down and sort of pin you on your back for 15 minutes?

Brandon Vera: I had some great standup partners, and then I had some ridiculous-ass wrestlers, and then I had Rodrigo Nogueira on top of me. It can't get no better than that.

I got wrestlers taking me down, trying to take me down, and then I had Rodrigo on top of me, and then the wrestlers trying to control me on top and on bottom. So we prepared for it just like any other MMA fight.

It's going to be an MMA fight. We can end up on the feet, we can end up on the ground. If you're not ready for whatever situation, you're going to get your ass whooped, so we tried to mimic the fight as much as we could.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is there a difference in comfort level fighting guys like that as a light heavyweight as opposed to a heavyweight? Meaning, is there a difference in speed or strength for you in this division as opposed to the heavyweight division?

Brandon Vera: I never thought about that. I never really thought about that. I just always wanted to be as strong as the guy that I was fighting and faster than everybody I was fighting. Those are two goals that I always tried to keep in line with.

You mentioned Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar. Would I be as strong as those guys? Hell no. But would I be faster? Hell yes. So I never really thought about that. I never thought about that at all. I'm still faster. I'm still faster than, I'll say, maybe 95% of the 205 pound division. Stronger? I'm probably stronger than 80% of the guys, and the other guys I'm just as strong as.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Which category does Krzysztof Soszynski fall into in that 80/20 split for strength differences?

Brandon Vera: I don't know. He's a big bastard. We'll see when we lock up.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Tell us some of the differences you see in him as opposed to Hamill.

Brandon Vera: Nothing except for the fact that he's a southpaw. Standup? He has standup. Is it good? No, I'm sorry. Is it technically good? No. Will that bastard swing? Yes. Will he swing with all his might? Yes. Is his wrestling good? It's better than average.

He's just like Matt Hamill. The only difference between those two guys is that he's a southpaw. Almost the same fight, just opposite stance.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Which do you feel you match up better with?

Brandon Vera: I don't know, I think I'm better than everybody.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Ok, well let me ask you this. As far as the advancement of your career, which fight do you think is a better match up for you?

Brandon Vera: I think Hamill would have been the better match up. I think he's known more, you know what I mean? But you can't sleep on Krzysztof Soszynski. If you sleep on him, you're going to end up getting put to sleep. So I have to take him just as serious as any other fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let's talk about a couple of these tough losses you've taken over the last couple of years. There was the questionable stoppage with Werdum and then there was the close decision with Jardine. Can you tell us how you felt about the outcome of those two fights? Did you think the Werdum stoppage was early? And was the Jardine decision fair?

Brandon Vera: The Jardine decision, I thought I did more damage that fight, but he was busier. So I can't really argue. It was my fault. It went to a judges' decision, you know? If you let it go to the judges it's your fault, regardless.

Werdum, hell yeah, I still think it was an early stoppage. But it was cool man. I talked to (referee Dan) Miragliotta later on down the road. It was cool.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What did Miragliotta have to say for himself?

Brandon Vera: That's between me and Miragliotta, but it was cool.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Talk about how those two losses may have helped to motivate you or mold you into a better fighter.

Brandon Vera: The Werdum fight didn't help for shit. But the Jardine loss made me start realizing that I needed to get to work and start doing more.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Is that a fight you'd like to have again?

Brandon Vera: Jardine? Yeah, that'd be a fun ass fight. That motherfucker is tough. Rampage, even Rampage kept punching that motherfucker, and he kept getting back up (laughs).

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Can you give us some details on this home invasion that happened with you recently?

Brandon Vera: It is what it is. It happened. They kicked through. They didn't get nothing. And they almost got caught, and that's it. They didn't get nothing, and we almost caught their ass, so it turned out for the best. Nobody got hurt. Everybody went home. Everybody was safe. That's all you can ask for.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): How's your wife (Kerry Vera) coming along as a fighter? I know she had her debut for Bellator a couple months ago. Do you get excited or nervous? What's it like?

Brandon Vera: All of the above, just like you said. She trains a lot. She's a student, she trains and takes classes. She's all about the sport. All she wants to do is just get better. So it's impressive watching her train and watching her grow as a fighter. It's cool.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let's talk about the champion in your division, Lyoto Machida. A lot of guys have had trouble figuring out his style. Do you see any holes in his game that maybe you could capitalize on?

Brandon Vera: I see holes, but I don't know if I could exploit them because I haven't sparred with anybody that fights Lyoto's style. Lyoto's fast and accurate, and he punches hard and he's awkward all at the same time. I haven't trained for his style yet, but I think I would match up well with him.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Do you think you could be the one to beat him and how do you think that fight would play out?

Brandon Vera: Of course! Somebody would be going to sleep, him or me. It wouldn't be a ground fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So if you think somebody would be going to sleep, that means you feel like you could knock him out?

Brandon Vera: If I can touch him, yeah. If I can touch him. That's the big unknown about Lyoto: can he take a punch, because you can't hit that son of a bitch.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What are your thoughts on his style?

Brandon Vera: At first I didn't like his style, until he knocked out his last two guys (laughs). Now I love it. I think he's awesome as shit. He used to just run around and point everybody to death, but his last two fights he's put people to sleep. You got to love it now.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I'm not positive, but I think I remember hearing that you were offered a fight with him in your 205 pound debut. What are some of the reasons why you didn't feel like that was the right matchup for you at the time?

Brandon Vera: Yeah, I confirmed it somewhere else before. Yeah, that was true. I turned it down. They wanted me to fight Lyoto Machida with two weeks notice. I was like, you guys are fucking tripping. I got to cut weight and think about this fast bastard? No thanks, I'll pass on this one.

Would I turn the fight down now? Hell no. That was my first fight at 205 and I still bullshitted. I still didn't know how it was to train like a professional fighter and be an MMA guy.

Now I've moved forward and I've progressed into my career, and I understand that this is what I do. This is my job. This is how I put food on the table. So, I treat this now as such. It doesn't matter what day or what week or what month of the year, I'm down to fight. I'll be in shape no matter what.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So your last few opponents, Mike Patt, Keith Jardine and now Hamill and Soszynski, those were the first ones offered up to you by the UFC?

Brandon Vera: Yep. Yes sir.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Let's say everything goes perfectly for you in Portland and you walk away with a first round knockout victory. How far off are you from a title shot in a crowded 205 pound division?

Brandon Vera: I don't know. I haven't had an answer for that question. Everybody keeps asking me that question. Honestly I can't give you an answer without it being bullshit because there's so many good guys in the 205 pound division.

I know it's the ... it's the ... how do you say this politically correct? It's the worst answer that any fighter can give, "Oh I'm in the UFC, I'll just do whatever they want."

Honestly right now, the 205 pound division is so stacked ... any fight could potentially be a championship fight. So, I don't know. I honestly don't know.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What if they offered you a fight with a guy like Anderson Silva, who has said he's not really interested in fighting for the light heavyweight title?

Brandon Vera: (Laughs) Oh man, that's the go-to question for everybody. If they offered me a fight with Anderson Silva I would for sure accept. But not out of disrespect. Anderson Silva is one of my fucking favorite fighters.

Would I deserve, would I think I deserve to fight Anderson Silva right now? No. Especially from a fan and statistics point of view, I don't deserve a fight with Anderson Silva.

But man, if you give me a chance to fight Anderson Silva, come on, man, are you kidding me? He's one of the best guys in the world. If you want to find out what you are as a fighter, yeah you got to fight that mother, see what happens.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I also wanted to ask you about the "fighting friends" topic, which is kind of a big story in your division right now with Silva and Machida saying they would never fight each other, and then you got the UFC brass kind of taking their own stance, sort of saying, "You're going to fight who we tell you to fight." What's your stance on that issue?

Brandon Vera: Let's put it like this: If they pay enough, I won't refuse to fight anybody. I'll train with the person I'm going to go fight up until the week of the fight. Then we'll fight and put on a good ass show.

If they're offering you enough money, I think you should be able to go ahead and fight that guy. You're doing him an injustice too. What if they offer you two million dollars each? You going to say no? Shit, I don't know where you're from (laughs), but two million dollars buys a lot of stuff where I'm from. I'm in.

I mean, friends is friends. We'll go hang out right after, you know what I mean? Shit, I'll even stitch you up. If you knock me out, hey, you better stitch me up. I don't have any qualms about fighting friends. As long as we're compensated well for it. So, if the money's right, I'll stand with the brass (laughs). Let's make sure we add that in (laughs).

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): I know you had some issues contractually with the UFC in the past. What's your relationship with the promotion now? Are you happy how you're being treated personally and professionally?

Brandon Vera: I like the UFC, you know? They're the fucking boss. If you don't perform, you know, it's just like any boss. That's the boss and I'm the employee. I'm going to do my job and I'm going to do my job well or there's consequences. They've treated me well. I really can't complain.

The contractual problems that we had weren't between the UFC and I. It was between my ex-manager and the UFC. A lot of static there, but other than that, I've never had a problem with the UFC or Dana (White) or Joe (Silva) or anybody.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): What's your current contract status? How many fights do you have remaining, that sort of thing?

Brandon Vera: You know what, I was thinking about that the other day and I honestly don't know. I'm going to have to call my management group and find out. I don't know. I don't know how many fights I have left. I don't know (laughs). I don't know if I have two left or three left on this contract, I'm not sure.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): And you're obviously looking to re-sign when your contract is up, correct?

Brandon Vera: Yeah, hell yeah. There's too many good guys, man. There's too many good guys to fight.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Your last fight was on the undercard of UFC 96. It was actually one of the first couple of fights to go off. Tell us a little bit about the emotional roller coaster of going from co-headlining major event (at UFC 89: "Bisping vs. Leben") to sort of taking a backseat on the undercard, to now returning to the main card for this fight.

Brandon Vera: Am I on the main card on this one?

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): As far as I know (laughs).

Brandon Vera: Oh, I don't know. People ask me that question too. I don't know. I don't think about that stuff. The only person I'm thinking about is that motherfucker across from me. I don't care if I'm the first fight of the night or the last.

Everybody's like, "Oh, but you're not on TV." I'm like, "Don't worry, if I knock this motherfucker out, they'll put me on TV. If I punish this guy, they're going to put me on TV." I really don't worry about that kind of stuff. I never ever worried about that.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): So you don't feel like there's more pressure on you to put on a better show when you're on TV or on the undercard trying to make the broadcast?

Brandon Vera: No. That's on me. I'm not worried about anybody else. I'm worried about me. When I walk out of the Octagon, I want to make sure that I did a good job.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Do you want to make a prediction for this fight?

Brandon Vera: No way (laughs). Hell no. The people that make the predictions are the ones that get knocked out, son (laughs). Oh man, go back to all the records. "Oh, I'm going to knock him out in the first round, or oh, I'm going to knock him out in the second round." Okay, whatever round they called it, that's the round they went to sleep in (laughs).

It's going to be a good ass fight. Krzysztof is going to have a hard time walking the next day. Let's just leave it at that and call it a day.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Cool man. Well I think that's about all I have for you, Brandon. Do you want to say anything to your fans or thank any sponsors before you get out of here?

Brandon Vera: Man, I want to thank Randy Hetrick from TRX and all of my training partners. I want to thank Doug from Fitness Quest 10. I want to thank all my coaches, Billy, Eric and Lloyd. And I want to thank my wife for keeping me together during camp.

James Iannotti (MMAmania.com): Brandon, thank you so much and good luck to you in Portland.

Brandon Vera: For sure, James. I appreciate it man, have a good day, bud.