Brandon "The Truth" Vera and wife-to-be Jessica Craven (photo by Peter Paul Baltazar)
By Ernest Hernandez
One Championship Heavyweight titleholder Brandon “The Truth” Vera is bracing for a busy 2018.
Vera did not fight in 2017, and now he plans to compete twice this year. Aside from that, he is set to open a local branch of Alliance MMA in the country.
“Everything has been lined up and centered on fighting this year. I didn’t get to fight last year because (I was) moving to the Philippines, entertainment business and shooting my first movie. It was a crazy year,” said Vera.
“2018 is getting Alliance ready to open, but 2018 is going to be the year that I am coming back to defend my title,” he added.
However, the most significant event for Vera this year is tying the knot with long-time girlfriend, Jessica Craven.
“Busy, busy year for us,” said Vera.
“On April 20th, I am getting married to Jessica Craven – soon to be Jessica Craven-Vera. We are getting married on an island – not in the Philippines – and a lot of our family is flying out for us.”
Not many people can handle “The Truth,” but Jessica surely did.
“We have been together for 4-5 years. I used to work at Brandon’s gym because he was one of my favorite fighters and we became friends first because we are both dating someone out,“ said Craven on how they met.
“Life just happened, and now, we are engaged. It is kinda weird.”
Multi-tasking seemed to be the key to “handling” Brandon Vera. She revealed that he could show different sides of himself.
“The different sides of Brandon – it is like having a big kid that likes to play video games, and you had to make sure you beat him all the times. And then you got the silent, grumpy Brandon during camp where there is not a lot of talking, and then you got a super goofball.”
“You are like a mother; you have to be like a mom,” she added.
Both officially got engaged last April 13, 2017, while they were in Guam. Craven had a feeling that Vera would pop the question though “The Truth” was pretty unpredictable. It was definite no-brainer ‘yes’ for her.
“I did not think about it at all. I just couldn’t move or talk when he proposed. I knew for a long time that it was going to be a yes. I did not just expect it to happen when it did,” explained Craven.
For most, picking the right girl to marry is a tough task. For Vera, there wasn’t any doubt.
“I decided when she was the one when she made me feel that there is nothing in this world that she wouldn’t do or for to me,” said Vera. “It happened almost right out the gate. I fell on my face; she picked me up, bring me up, she does that to me often.”