All of a sudden, Vera-Sylvia is big

On Saturday night, we will get to find out "The Truth" about Brandon Vera.

Brandon "The Truth" Vera, perhaps the biggest future hope for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight division, faces a giant hurdle, both figuratively and literally, in the presence of two-time former champion Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia before what is expected to be a sellout crowd at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.

The fight is the co-feature on the UFC 77 pay-per-view show to the Anderson-Silva middleweight title defense against hometown star Rich Franklin. In the past week, the Vera-Sylvia match has grown in importance with Randy Couture leaving UFC, putting the heavyweight title in limbo.

The winner, provided he escapes without a serious injury, will fight for the vacant title in early 2008. Two scenarios have been discussed. In one, the winner would face the winner of the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Cheick Kongo match taking place sometime this winter. The second is Nogueira and Kongo won't fight, and Nogueira will face the Vera-Sylvia winner in the championship match.

The latter scenario would allow the title to be filled on Feb. 2 in Las Vegas, the date that had been penciled in for Couture's next title defense.

There is some history behind this match, as UFC officials originally scheduled it for March 3 in Columbus, Ohio, with Sylvia defending against the man who had finished former champion Frank Mir in 1:09 with strikes on November 18, 2006. That was the same night Sylvia fought a lackluster five-round decision win over Jeff Monson to keep the championship.

However, a contract dispute between the UFC and Vera's management, which led to Vera dropping his management and a lengthy legal battle, saw Vera taken out of the match. The issue wasn't resolved until recently, when Vera signed a new contract with UFC, and kept him out of action for almost a full year. Vera's departure from the March 3 match left the opening that Couture walked through to capture the title. Now, after a year of surprises, things have almost come full circle in the division, except this time neither man goes in as champion.

Vera (8-0) fits the description of "unbeaten, untied and untried," at least when it comes to championship-caliber fighters. But his skill set is without question. He's got top-level Greco-Roman wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing. However, few fans have seen much more than the Muay Thai, which he studies under kickboxing legend Rob Kaman. Six of his eight fights have been stopped via knockout or TKO. The only fight where he went the distance was a two-rounder, his second pro fight, which more than four years ago. Based on everything people have seen, he has fought like a top contender and a future champion.

But until a fighter faces top-level competition, and faces real adversity, there are going to be question marks. In this case, besides the higher-quality opponent, there are also questions such as ring rust, and the ability to handle someone with a huge edge. Vera is 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, without cutting weight. The modern training is that fighters of that size cut to 205 pounds, to avoid facing the bigger heavyweights, like Sylvia.

Vera himself isn't adverse to cutting, but when he arrived in UFC on October 3, 2005, with a quick win over Fabio Scherner with knees, he said his goal was to win the heavyweight title first, and then cut to light heavyweight and capture the title there. Those comments immediately raised eyebrows, Sylvia's among them, when a guy who had just finished his fifth pro fight and was talking about dual championships.

Sylvia, at 6-foot-8, figures to answer most of those questions in what he expects to be an entertaining stand-up battle, something his past fights have lacked.

"I'm ready for a tough fight," said the 32-year-old Pat Miletich disciple. "Hopefully it doesn't go three rounds. I don't like going to a decision."

Sylvia clearly respects Vera's ground game, bringing up that he submitted Assuerio Silva, the current Pancrase heavyweight champion, on May 27, 2006, with a guillotine immediately when the fight hit the ground. Silva is the only common opponent, as Sylvia won a decision over the Brazilian fighter five months earlier

As for ring rust, Vera denies it.

"I've been training the whole time," he said. "I've been to Thailand. I've been sparring with pro boxers … I was doing two-a-days the whole time."

"It (the time off) taught me to pay attention a lot more to details," he continued. "I got to sit back and watch, and pick up techniques that I like."

As for size, Vera is thankful his management team felt it was a concern. Vera felt he could just train for a normal fight, but his trainers insisted that he spar with much taller fighters, and after seeing how that changes the game, he has a completely different viewpoint.

"It's a 6-foot-8 problem," Vera said. "I didn't think size would be a problem until my management brought in guys who were 6-8. The timing is different. It's a big problem. I have big guys beating on me every day. I'm the smallest heavyweight in the division and he's the biggest."

Sylvia, on the other hand, in beginning his comeback for a goal to become only the second man in history to win three UFC titles (Couture is the record holder with five), is coming off major back surgery. He blew out his back a month before the Couture loss, and had two vertebrae fused a few weeks after the fight.

The two-time former heavyweight kingpin claims to be better than ever and fully healed. He also claims his conditioning is at a different level thanks to swimming with hand paddles to build up his back and shoulders and long bicycle runs to build endurance. Sylvia has usually cut to make 265 pounds, the upper limit of the heavyweight division. He usually gets in the cage closer to 280. In recent weeks, he talked about coming into the fight at 250, giving him added endurance and speed.

In charting the fight, when it comes to stand-up, it's clearly the size vs. speed and skill fight. Vera is faster with his hands and his feet and has the better submissions. But he's giving up significant strength and reach. Sylvia poses a level of knockout power that he's never faced in the past. And because he's never gone into round three, that can be a question. Vera has never shown any endurance issues in his UFC fights, but none have gone long enough to really test that aspect of his game.

Endurance has never seemed an issue with Sylvia, who has fought three title matches that have gone five rounds without any problems. A three-round fight shouldn't prove to be an issue for the 23-3 fighter who has 16 knockouts and two submission finishes. And he has a huge edge in big-match experience.

Sylvia captured the UFC heavyweight title for the first time on February 28, 2003, when he knocked out Ricco Rodriguez in the first round, and has been facing mostly top-level, high-pressure fights ever since.

Vera looks to have the advantage on the ground, as he's the more credentialed wrestler and submission fighter. But Sylvia more than held his own on the ground with Monson, who this year won a gold medal in the grappling world championships. Couture proved Sylvia could be taken down, but Vera, in his MMA matches has not shown the level of wrestling Couture has. Of course, up to this point, he hasn't had to, since he's preferred to keep every fight standing.

Vera, is coming in as a 2-to-1 favorite, recently completed a recent training camp at Big Bear, Calif., under Juanito Ibarra, the same trainer who guided Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to the light heavyweight title.

More UFC 77: Kevin Iole on Rich Franklin vs. Anderson Silva.