MMA News: Tim Sylvia Ready for Brandon Vera at UFC 77

Tim Sylvia says he's recovered from back surgery and ready to fight at "UFC 77: Hostile Territory." (MMAWeekly.com photo)

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (23-3-0) is ready for war at "UFC 77: Hostile Territory."

On Oct. 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio, "The Maine-iac" will return for his first fight since losing the heavyweight title. and take on undefeated Brandon "The Truth" Vera (8-0-0).

It's been seven months since Sylvia's unanimous decision loss to Randy "The Natural" Couture (16-8-0). He's used the time to recover from a nagging back injury, going under the knife to repair nerve damage that, according to Sylvia, was bothering him even before the fight against Couture.

"Obviously I'm feeling great," Sylvia said in a recent conference call, "because if I wasn't I wouldn't be taking this fight because, you know, Brandon's a tough guy. Surgery went awesome. As soon as I came out of anesthesia I jumped out of bed. The nurse told me to settle down. I couldn't because the pain was all gone. So I'm feeling great. Training's going awesome. I'm excited for this fight. It's going to be a real exciting fight."

Vera, who has been away from the octagon for nearly a year due to a contract dispute, says he can't wait to get back into the cage.

"Being away for so long sucked," he said. "I didn't like it. But, you know, I have been training the whole time. It's not like I pulled a retirement for a year and hung out and kicked it. I've been training. I went to Thailand, went to the Philippines, worked on my hands with some boxers out there. Working with a lot of different co-boxers. Just training."

"I got to sit back and watch a lot of the fights," Vera continued. "I wasn't actively fighting. So I just got to pick and choose and start picking up some more techniques that I like and that I didn't like. Some things that I need to change in my game. So the time away was good I think. I don't know, we'll find out."

Bet on Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera in the Bodog Sportsbook.

See mixed martial arts Tuesday with Bodog Fight on ION TV and on The Fight Network at 11 p.m. / 10 p.m Central and on The Score at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. Central.

All lines subject to change.