Vera was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia,[4] and attended Lake Taylor High School where he excelled in wrestling and earned a four-year athletic scholarship to Old Dominion University.

However, he dropped out of Old Dominion after a year and a half when he felt college was not for him, and enlisted himself in the United States Air Force.

Vera returned to Virginia, where he steadily rehabilitated his arm, and eventually was fit enough to enter the Grapplers Quest submission wrestling competitions on the East Coast.

[5] Vera then moved to San Diego, California, on December 31, 2003, to accept a training position with City Boxing.

At City Boxing, Vera excelled as a trainer and was taken under the wing of owner Mark Dion, who became his manager and introduced him to kickboxing great Rob Kaman.

[4] Vera made his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 2 on October 3, 2005, against BJJ black belt Fabiano Scherner.

On November 18, he stopped former heavyweight champion Frank Mir by TKO due to strikes in just 69 seconds at UFC 65 in Sacramento, California.

Vera's victory secured him a championship bout against then title-holder Tim Sylvia, but a contract dispute with the UFC forced him to be replaced by Randy Couture.

The fight was controversially stopped by referee Dan Miragliotta as Werdum mounted him and landed some ground and pound.

[7][8] After his two recent losses, Vera dropped down to the Light Heavyweight division, facing IFL alum Reese Andy at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19, 2008, on Spike TV.

He had an impressive performance against Mike Patt, showing a more aggressive and intense striking approach and stopping him via TKO (leg kicks) in the second round.

Vera fought Polish fighter Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 102 after his original opponent, Matt Hamill, was forced to drop out due after suffering a meniscus tear while training.

[17] Vera was briefly linked to a rematch Thiago Silva on May 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs.

[20] However, Vera was pulled from the bout with Te-Huna to face Maurício Rua on August 4, 2012, at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs.

Vera returned to the Heavyweight division after an absence of 5 years and faced Ben Rothwell at UFC 164 on August 31, 2013.

After nearly a year away from the cage, Vera returned to face Hideki Sekine at ONE Championship: Age of Domination on December 2, 2016.

[36] Vera lost to Bhullar by second-round technical knockout, ending his five-year reign as ONE Heavyweight World Champion.

In 2018, Vera co-starred with Anne Curtis in the Philippine action-thriller BuyBust[41] and starred as the lead actor in a 2022 Filipino zombie movie called Day Zero.

[49] In the latter part of his training for UFC 89, Vera was reportedly held at gun point by two men attempting to rob the house in which he was staying.

[50] In 2016, Vera revealed that he was relocating to the Philippines full time, to help grow the sport of mixed martial arts in his ancestral homeland.