After losing fourth straight at UFC Mexico, what’s next for Marlon Vera?

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.

Chito Vera has been a frustrating follow because talent and skill has never been the problem for him. The problem for him is that he is an insanely slow starter and that has been known to put him into holes when he fights and when you fight a lot of three round fights, he has found himself in holes he couldn’t dig out from.

He knew he had a lot to prove on Saturday night, so he did start the fight with more urgency than we usually saw from Chito. That said, he was facing someone who was just faster on the feet. While Vera landed here and there, it was Martinez who was getting the better of the exchanges in the first couple of rounds.

While they were competitive, I felt pretty confident it was 2-0 Martinez entering the third. In the third, Martinez slowed down and Vera started to press a little more. Vera did land some damaging shots, but even in the third, Vera waited until the end of the round to really put his foot on the gas.

You could tell that Martinez just wanted to hear the final bell at UFC Mexico while Vera still had more in the tank. He won the final round, but once again he lost the fight which is now four in a row for Chito.

What’s next after UFC Mexico?

From August 2018 – August 2022, Chito Vera was 10-2 with his only losses coming against Jose Aldo and a controversial decision loss against Song Yadong where many felt like he won. During that stretch, he finished Sean O’Malley, Dominick Cruz, and Frankie Edgar while also picking up a decision win over Rob Font.

After that stretch he lost a fight to Cory Sandhagen and then bounced back with a win over Pedro Munhoz. Sean O’Malley was the champion at the time and given their first fight, Vera was given a title shot. It wasn’t a massive stretch considering Vera was 5-1 in six fights leading up to his UFC title shot.

Vera was dominated by O’Malley in their rematch. After that, he dropped a decision to Deiveson Figueiredo and then a decision to Aiemann Zahabi prior to Saturday night’s decision loss. It’s been a really awful stretch for Vera.

That said, I don’t think the UFC is going to get rid of him and I expect him to get at least one more chance. That chance is likely going to come against a rising contender who needs a shot at breaking into the rankings. With that, I could see the promotion going with someone like Jakub Wiklacz.

The former KSW champ is 2-0 inside the octagon, but he’s still not ranked. If he could beat Vera, he’d instantly be close to the top ten. If Raul Rosas Jr defeats Rob Font this upcoming weekend to get into the rankings, he could be another name to watch for Chito Vera next.