Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera promises to bounce back following brutal UFC 299 loss: ‘The belt will be mine one day’
Carrying a ton of confidence from being the first and only fighter to hand bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley a loss in his MMA career, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera was dealt a hard dose of reality during Saturday’s headliner in Miami, Florida.
From the opening bell, O’Malley was in complete control of their long-awaited rematch, using his speed and skill to bust up the Ecuadorian for a full 25 minutes. Vera undeniably proved his toughness, taking everything ‘Sugar’ had, and even folded the defending champ with a vicious body blow in the closing seconds of their UFC 299 headliner — a moral victory, but one that ultimately left him going home without the gold.
Still, ‘Chito’ has plenty of reason to hold his head high and is already looking ahead to a future trilogy fight with O’Malley.
“I dream about last night my whole life and fell short at the end of the day,” he wrote on Instagram. “I will be back. Thanks to my family and team for being by my side. The love of Ecuador was felt more than ever, thank you for supporting me that way I will come back stronger, the belt will be mine one day.”
As for what could be next for Vera, a fight with former titleholder Petr Yan certainly makes a lot of sense. ‘No Mercy’ returned to the win column in the main card opener, delivering a solid performance against rising contender Song Yadong. It was Yan’s first win since suffering three-straight losses against Aljamain Sterling, Sean O’Malley, and Merab Dvalishvili.
Immediately following the UFC 299 main event, Yan called for a fight with ‘Chito’ before hoping to secure his own rematch with Sean O’Malley.
Sean O’Malley Unlikely to Get Ilia Topuria Fight following win over ‘Chito’ Vera
Sean O’Malley will likely put his title on the line against Merab Dvalishvili when he returns to the Octagon later this year. In February, ‘The Machine’ earned a decisive decision victory over Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo, securing his spot at the top of the stacked 135-pound division.
Despite there being a clear-cut contender to deal with, O’Malley expressed interest in going up a weight class to challenge newly minted featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria during his post-fight interview inside the Kaseya Center. As exciting as that fight sounds, UFC CEO Dana White is unlikely to grant his wish considering ‘Sugar’ just bagged his first successful defense while Topuria is yet to book his first fight as a defending champion.
