Fighting a family affair for Vera

One of the unspoken problems for fighters with families is balancing real life with the focus and time-consuming nature of match preparation.

But for Brandon Vera, who faces Randy Couture in the main event of Saturday's UFC 105 in Manchester, England, the family life aspect of camp has been no issue whatsoever.

That's because his wife, Kerry, a former kickboxer who gained some fame on the Oxygen network's reality show "Fight Girls," is going through the same demands because she's also fighting this month. Not coincidentally, her opponent is also named Couture – Randy's ex-wife Kim – six days later on a Strikeforce show in Kansas City.

"This is a new experience," Vera said. "She's going to England. It's cool. Both of us are training at the same time. The training is great, and she understands what I'm going through. It has made it so much easier."

Brandon Vera, 32, is nicknamed "The Truth," and in many ways this is his personal moment of truth. Vera came into the UFC in 2005 with only four fights under his belt but a lot of hype. He was filled with both confidence and charisma.

After his debut, he set the bar high, saying that he wanted to become the first fighter in history to hold both the heavyweight championship and the light heavyweight title at the same time. Over the next two years, his performances lived up to his early hype.

He had four stoppage wins in his first four UFC fights, including three in the first round. The highlight of his streak came against former heavyweight champion Frank Mir at UFC 65, where Vera won in just 1:09 by overwhelming Mir standing.

The win put Vera in line for a shot at then-heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. But Vera and the UFC had a contract dispute, and he never signed for the match. It was his upcoming opponent, Couture, who came out of retirement to fill the vacancy, leading to Couture's win in one of the most memorable moments in UFC history.

Just as Couture's storybook career hit its apex, Vera's unraveled.

After his contractual issue with the UFC came a management problem and a dispute. He sat out a year, and when he came back at UFC 77, he broke his hand in the first round in a fight against Sylvia, losing a decision and ending his undefeated status. The loss derailed him from a heavyweight title fight he would have received with a win.

After a second loss to Fabricio Werdum, on a stoppage that Vera complained came too early, he made the call to move to light heavyweight.

While his first match was a win against Reese Andy via decision, it was a dull fight that hurt his standing. Then it got worse, as Vera lost a split decision to Keith Jardine in another dull fight. With three losses in four fights, Vera was probably one loss away from being gone from the organization.

"I had to grow up," said Vera, who has become a star in the Philippines thanks to his Filipino heritage and the UFC's popularity on TV there. "I was like a 16-year-old and living that way. When I started, it all came so easy. I had to grow up mentally, physically and emotionally. I was just young-minded."

"I learned that I could be the technically better fighter and still lose," he said of the loss to Jardine. "I fought a guy who just wanted it more."

Vera said the loss caused him to change his approach to training.

"At first, my mind wasn't totally into it because it was so easy for me," he said. "Preparing would be boring as hell. Everything I've experienced is part of playing out the story. I wouldn't be the fighter I am if I hadn't lost to Jardine. That was a very good experience."

Vera is going to need to learn from all of those experiences when he faces arguably the most ring-wise competitor in the sport. Couture (16-10) has about 35 years of big match experience, between his wrestling and MMA wars. He's won big ones and lost big ones. He won four national championships in wrestling and had a record-setting five UFC championship reigns during his career. However, he has just as many losses in national finals and championship matches.

"For sure, it's the biggest fight of my career," said Vera. "You're talking Randy Couture, a living legend."

And a legend with his own back against the wall. At 46, he's suffered two straight losses.

This will be Vera's third trip to the United Kingdom, and while he loves the British crowds, he's hoping things end up differently than his previous trips – losses to Werdum and Jardine.

"I like the fans over there," he said. "No matter what happens, the fans are great. UFC fans are mostly good anywhere, but the U.K. fans are always there for a good time."

Most people who see Vera fight for the first time figure he's a kickboxer who learned other skills. But that's not the case. In fact, Vera and Couture, while their fighting styles couldn't be more different, have had many similar experiences before getting into the sport.

Vera, like Couture, grew up a wrestler. He got a scholarship to Old Dominion but only lasted a little more than a year.

Like Couture, Vera joined the military and was part of the U.S. Air Force wrestling team. Couture, after high school, was part of the U.S. Army team.

Both men did freestyle wrestling but specialized in Greco-Roman.

In fact, the goal Vera espoused from Day 1 in the UFC – being champion in two weight classes at the same time – would be one-upping Couture, who has won the heavyweight title three times and the light heavyweight title twice, though never simultaneously.

But Vera was 24 when he started training to be a fighter, starting jiu-jitsu and kickboxing at about the same time. He picked up both quickly, and after moving to San Diego in 2004, he trained under legendary kickboxer Rob Kaman. He joked that he had to improve quickly at kickboxing because the alternative was to get beaten up daily in practice.

Most of Vera's UFC career has been spent on his feet. Vera's logical strategy vs. Couture would be to hope his wrestling is strong enough to keep the fight standing, where both his quickness and variety of standing attacks, most notably his wicked low kicks, can give him the advantage. But if he doesn't fight up to his potential, it doesn't matter the strategy.

As for the goal of the cocky newcomer of being the heavyweight and light heavyweight champ at the same time?

"That's still a long-term goal," he said. "Why not reach for the stars? Who not?"