Brandon Vera's Opponent on July 19th Is Reese Andy

I know a lot of folks expect Vera to steamroll Andy, but I don't see it. I do see Vera winning because the submission grappling component to his game appears more useful in MMA, but Andy is tough business.

He's a three-time state champion wrestler in high school, three time All-American in college, two-time national runner-up in wrestling, an explosive athlete, Abu Dhabi veteran, IFL veteran and at least up until recently trained with Matt Hume at AMC Pankration. Reese explains why he's largely anonymous despite his accomplishments:

"I signed a four-fight contract with UFC," said Andy. "They usually will keep you based on performance. If you lose, they might want to drop you and offer you a little less. If you win, you are in and they stick with your contract for each fight. If you perform well, they might not bother you. It's all based on their head people and what they think.

"In this sport, they can get a lot of people to go to the fight and fight for smaller money. It's not like boxing. People think there are only a few fighters out there. There are a lot of guys out there fighting now and a lot of guys are willing to go out at all costs for little pay to be on TV and get their names out there. But that is not my deal. If I compete, I want to be compensated."

Of the two, I'd give the edge in pure wrestling to Andy, although Vera's Greco skills might be slightly superior (for sure, Andy has the better leg attacks). In submission wrestling, I'd give the slight edge to Vera for having a more well-rounded BJJ game. In striking, it's not even a contest. Andy has decent power, but Vera outclasses him in virtually every other technical aspect of the stand-up game.

The X factor here is how Vera will handle the cut to light heavyweight. If it goes well, he should be able to better defend Andy's shots and use his devastating and controlling Thai clinch to his benefit a la Fabiano Scherner. He's got more offensive weapons on the feet and a submission game that's better adapted to MMA. But Andy is a bull and if he can keep Vera guessing with shots and fake shot attempts, he'll prevent Vera from ever setting his feet to unload.

For more of Andy, check out his fight with Keith Hackney product Adam Maciejewski and his Abu Dhabi submission grappling match against Fabricio Werdum.

Reese Andy vs. Adam Maciejewski

Reese Andy vs. Fabricio Werdum