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This week, the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced the "return" of Brandon Vera — a fighter still under contract to the organization who never actually went anywhere.

Still, though, the fact that Vera resolved previous management issues and will return to his quest for a heavyweight championship was reason for the UFC to celebrate.

After all, Vera, a one-time top contender who missed a shot at the title because of a dispute with his then-manager, splashed onto the scene in a big way.

He went 4-0 to jumpstart his UFC career — which included a 69-second TKO victory over former champ Frank Mir — to push his overall MMA record to 8-0.

Additionally, there's no doubt the 29-year-old is personable.

After one quick victory at UFC 57, Vera invited the 11,000-plus in attendance to his wedding reception that was planned for the following day.

There's also no doubt he's got a brass set.

While still largely unknown to the masses, he called out then-champion Chuck Liddell, saying he wanted to fight the UFC legend before the 37-year-old's career "slips." That unbridled brashness hasn't gone unnoticed by his peers, though.

As one well-known fighter once said (off the record, of course), "Sooner or later, someone's gonna knock the cocky out of him. He talks a big game for not having actually fought a top-10 heavyweight."

With Vera's new six-fight deal, though, it's only a matter of time.

Gurgel vs. Robinson

UFC lightweight Jorge Gurgel, a Wright State University graduate, will take on Alvin Robinson at Oct. 20's UFC 77 event, which takes place at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena.

Gurgel (11-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who on Saturday drew approximately 500 fans to an open house at his West Chester MMA training center, originally was slated to face Alaskan Fighting Championships bantamweight champ Doug Evans. Evans turned down the fight because of injury, and now Robinson (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a veteran of the Colorado-based Ring of Fire organization, will step in for the undercard bout.

UFC 77 tickets on sale

Tickets for Cincinnati's upcoming UFC 77 event go on sale this week. And yes, the show, which features a main event between current UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Cincinnati's Rich Franklin, will sell out quickly.

Tickets go on sale to UFC Fight Club members at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Memberships are $65 per year, but you're guaranteed the best seats available.

Tickets then go on sale to the general public on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Dann Stupp is the editor-in-chief of UFCjunkie.com. Check out www.ufcjunkie.com for the latest MMA news, rumors and fighter interviews.