There’s a fine light heavyweight match up between Brandon Vera (10-3) and Matt Hamill (6-2) brewing for UFC 101, which is tentatively scheduled to take place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on August 8, according to MMAMadness.com.
Bout agreements have not been signed at this time; however, the report indicates that both fighters have verbally agreed to get it on in the "City of Brotherly Love."
Vera -- a former heavyweight fighter who was considered a possible title contender until sustaining back-to-back losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum -- recently beat Mike Patt into submission with leg kicks to score a second round technical knockout at UFC 96: "Jackson vs. Jardine" earlier this month.
It was the second win in three attempts for "The Truth" at 205 pounds – he has a unanimous decision win over Reese Andy at UFC Fight Night 14 and lackluster split decision loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 89: "Bisping vs. Leben" to his credit.
Vera has re-dedicated himself to training and vows to do nothing but kick people’s asses from this point forward to re-establish himself as a top fighter in 2009. He’s off to a good start; however, he’ll have to figure out a way to keep his next fight against Hamill upright to continue down that path.
Or maybe not.
Hamill didn’t need to rely on his fantastic wrestling skills against two-fight World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) veteran Mark Munoz at UFC 96. "The Hammer" dropped a high kick right on the kisser, sending "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" to the canvas in an unconscious heap and the ringside medical team into a tizzy.
Munoz was fine in the end, but it was a scary-looking finish.
Hamill -- who has seven professional fights to his credit all under the UFC banner -- is on a two-fight win streak since getting blasted by Rich Franklin at UFC 88: "Breakthrough" last year courtesy of a third round technical knockout. He’ll need to make it three in a row if he intends to stay relevant in the very crowded 205-pound class, which will not be easy against a vicious striker such as Vera.
And remember, too, that Vera will have revenge on his mind come fight night -- he and Munoz have become fast Filipino friends.
UFC 101 will likely feature a main event between lightweight champion BJ Penn against number one contender Kenny Florian, as well as a 205-pound showdown between former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin and the previously unbeaten Thiago Silva in the co-featured fight of the night.
For more on UFC 101, including rumored bouts and all other event-related news, click here.
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