Vera suffers painful loss in heavyweight comeback

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Brandon Vera’s mixed martial arts career could be coming to a painful end.

Back in heavyweight action after campaigning in the light heavy division for five years, Vera still found the going tougher than he expected as he lost to Ben Rothwell via a third round TKO in the UFC 164: Henderson vs Pettis at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin yesterday.

The 35-year-old Vera saw the end after getting hit and hurt by a flurry from Rothwell, 31,  forcing referee Herb Dean to jump in and stop the contest in 1.54 of the third and final round.

Vera fell to his seventh loss against 12 victories and a no-contest while Rothwell improved to 33 including 19 knockouts against nine defeats.

It was another sorry loss for the San Diego, California native, who was hoping to revive his flagging career with an impressive win over Rothwell.

Instead, Vera, known in the UFC as “The Truth,” fell to his seventh defeat in his last 12 fights after starting out his career with a sensational eight-win streak including a stunning win over former heavyweight titlist Frank Mir UFC 65 in Sacramento, California seven years ago.

Meanwhile, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis bested Benson Henderson via first round armbar submission to snatch the UFC lightweight title before an ecstatic hometown crowd.

Pettis, who improved to 17-2, thus put a stop to the 18-month reign of Henderson (18-3).

“It feels amazing to be here,” said Pettis in post-fight interview. “I grew up coming to this arena and sitting in those nosebleeds. Milwaukee made Anthony Pettis. You really can’t write a better story than what happened right here tonight.”

Heavyweight Josh Barnett, for his part, emerged victorious in his first UFC fight in 11 years, defeating Mir with a massive knee to the head midway through the first round.