[bears9]

Prior to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s victory over Tim Sylvia earlier this month, UFC President Dana White said that Fabricio Werdum would likely get the next shot at the title. However, it now appears he’ll first have to get by Brandon Vera (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

Werdum and Vera are slated to battle at UFC 85, an event that takes place June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, according to a report from The Fight Network.

According to the report, bout agreements have not been signed.
Werdum, a former PRIDE Fighting Championships fighter, signed with the UFC last year. He was considered an instant heavyweight contender (fresh off a first-round submission victory over Aleksander Emelianenko), but after a lackluster loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 70, Werdum seemingly fell off the UFC’s radar. After an eight-month layoff, though, he finally returned at UFC 80 in January and scored a stunning second-round TKO of UFC heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga.

Vera, meanwhile, began his UFC career with three straight victories before he earned a bout with Frank Mir. Although questions marks still surrounded the brash youngster, Vera defeated the former UFC heavyweight with a first-round TKO at UFC 65. The November 2006 fight would be his last for nearly a year, though, as he worked out issues with his former management. Vera was supposed to fight then-champ Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 nearly a year ago, but with the issues still unresolved, Randy Couture got the fight instead.

Report: Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera Slated for UFC 85 -- MMAjunkie.com