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On the now infamous Frankie Edgar Photo:
“It’s a f*cked up picture,” Vera said during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “I don’t post it. It’s f*cked up. I put it like this — it’s him or me. I always talk like this, it’s my family that I’ve got to bring the bread home against your family. I’m sorry. F*ck you for that. I’m going to do everything to do for my family, for my loved ones. We’re fighting for that. We’re fighting for a better future, for everything at home.
“But it’s a f*cked up picture. I don’t post that picture. Everybody’s tagging me. I don’t think even in the stories, I don’t even want to reply. The guy still has a family, the guy still has a life and that was Saturday night.”
“It’s almost like if I post it, I feel like it’s a little disrespectful,” Vera explained. “If that’s me at the end of the rope and the guy posts it, I don’t really care. I’ve got thick skin. I’m a loser, I’ve got to get better and figure it out. But I wouldn’t do it.”
On his victory at UFC 268:
While he considers the win over Edgar as the biggest of his career so far, Vera was quick to move past the fight because he gains nothing for the future by dwelling in the past.
“Saturday night was special. It will be in my heart forever but I don’t live for that memory,” Vera said. “Those three minutes of fame that you’re cool, a lot of people make that mistake and then they go downhill because they think they will be in that position forever. The fight’s gone.
“Monday morning came, I’m back on the horse. My mind is already thinking ahead. I’m going to fight somebody else, this fight doesn’t matter. I’m already thinking of what’s coming.”
Vera did share a moment with Edgar in the octagon following his knockout win because he wanted to apologize after flipping him the middle finger at the end of a round.
On the middle finger incident:
“Those are mind games,” Vera said. “We were fighting. We are in a fist fight. We’re not playing any games. So I was like in that period of time, I was thinking if I look down and walk away, he’s going to be like ‘he’s weak, he gave up in this little exchange’ and I’m like that’s not me. I’m going to face fire with fire and I don’t mind getting in there. That was it.
“I went straight to him [after the fight], grabbed him by the face and I’m like hey man, I didn’t mean to disrespect you. It’s just fighting, we’re being mean to each other. We’re trying to f*ck up each other. I’m like I respect you, who you are, how you handle yourself and I’m sorry again. I’m not that person. I don’t handle myself like that. I want to say I’m sorry and thanks for the opportunity. He congratulated me and we hugged it out. He’s a gentleman.”
On who's next:
“Literally, how the situation is, there’s only two guys ahead or that are free, which are Merab [Dvalishvili] and [Cory] Sandhagen,” Vera said. “I can fight any of those two tomorrow.”
“He’s a wrestler,” Vera said about Dvalishvili. “I would be more scared if he was an Anthony Johnson type of f*cking guy. Anthony Johnson touch you, you don’t grow a beard. He’s a bad motherf*cker but I understand that. We all are.”
Link: https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/11...e-edgar-merab-dvalishvili-cory-sandhagen-next