Brandon Vera explains his decision to withdraw from Thiago Silva rematch

"The Truth" hurts.

No, really. Brandon Vera is still recovering from an arm injury he suffered in his unanimous decision win over Eliot Marshall at UFC 137: "Penn vs. Diaz" last October in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Vera, who has been champing at the bit to get his hands on Thiago Silva just as soon as he returned from his drug suspension, apparently made a verbal commitment to the UFC brass without first checking with his doctor to see if he would indeed be ready to compete.

The pair were initially reported to be facing off for a second time at the UFC on FX 3 event on May 15 in Virginia; however, it's too much, too soon, for the ex-heavyweight.

Vera breaks it all down for fans on his Facebook page, after the jump.

"Hey everybody, it's Brandon "The Truth" Vera here. I wanted to clear up some stuff, and apologize. I've been bugging my manager, I've been bugging Joe Silva and the UFC, so as soon as Thiago Silva's suspension was over and he was available, I would like to be the first one to fight him and get back in there with him. Kind of a welcome back thing. Finally the fight came, Joe said the fight can happen May 15th. My manager told me the fight is happening May 15th...and without thinking, without talking to my coaches, without talking to my doctors, I verbally said 'Yes, I'm down for the fight, let's do this, let's get it done. I'm in.' Super excited, hung up the phone, promptly went on a run, and got super excited.

The next morning I went to my doctors after training and told my doctors that I was planning on fighting May 15th, and...everybody looked at me like I was crazy. They said there's no way I'll be ready by then, and I need to focus on getting better. So I sat down and was thinking 'Yeah, maybe those guys are right.' So I didn't check with my doctors, I didn't check with my coaches. I apologize to both you guys. I apologize to Joe Silva and my manager Matt Stansell. I apologize to my fans. I still wanna fight you bad Thiago, Thiago, however you say your name juice monkey. I still wanna fight you bad. So whenever you're ready, whenever I'm healthy enough, I'm your huckleberry."

Transcription courtesy of Tim Burke.

Vera received a broken nose and his promotion pink slip after being manhandled by the tainted Brazilian at last year's "Edgar vs. Maynard" pay-per-view, but has since been called back to the UFC after Silva's drug test results came back hotter than two goats in a pepper patch.

Silva was slapped with a slew of penalties, including a one year revocation of his fight license, a steep monetary fine ($33,750) and a change in ruling for his bout against Vera to a "No Contest."

He's back and looking for a fresh start, but it won't be against Vera. At least not for now.

Anyone have a second choice in mind?