After his latest win at UFC Mexico, what’s next for David Martinez?

This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Mexico, we saw a bantamweight matchup between two top ten ranked contenders. Former title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera (23-12-1) was looking to halt his losing streak while David Martinez (14-1) was looking to keep climbing up the division.

Martinez came to the UFC via The Contender Series at the end of 2024 and he made his octagon debut just under a year ago. He scored a knockout win in his first fight and then after Raul Rosas Jr fell out of a fight with Rob Font, Martinez stepped in. He defeated Font and that put him right into the rankings at 10th.

He was given another big opportunity on Saturday to take on the former title challenger in Chito Vera. In the first two rounds, Martinez showed why he’s really good. He was incredibly fast and he used his tremendous footwork to not let Vera find a flow state. With that, he was clearly up 2-0 heading into the third round.

Martinez clearly slowed down in the third and Vera came on strong, but Martinez was able to survive. He took a unanimous 29-28 decision win at UFC Mexico and moved to 3-0 inside the octagon.

What’s next after UFC Mexico?

One year ago at this time, Martinez hadn’t even made his octagon debut. Fast forward 12 months and he’s going to be ranked 9th in the division after this win over Chito Vera. His only career loss came via split decision and overall, he’s now won ten fights in a row.

In terms of what’s next, you have to think another top ten opponent would be next for Martinez. The UFC could look at booking him against former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo next as Martinez continues to look to build his resume and rise up through the rankings.

I would not have him face someone like Mario Bautista next given Bautista’s latest performance. I would like to see Martinez get a better matchup for himself. Honestly, I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of a prospect – prospect type of fight with someone like Payton Talbott. Something like that could be something the UFC could look into.