UFC Vegas 17 Preview: Jose Aldo – Marlon Vera

Jul 28, 2018; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Jose Aldo (red gloves) fights Jeremy Stephens (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 17, we have a banger of a matchup in the bantamweight division. Former featherweight champion, Jose Aldo (28-7), will be taking on Marlon “Chito” Vera (16-6-1).

This is the biggest opportunity so far in the UFC for Chito Vera. Getting the opportunity to fight a former world champion and getting the chance to really break through. However, you could make the argument he did that in his last fight.

Coming into UFC Vegas 17, Vera is coming off of a big win against Sean O’Malley. Vera was able to cancel the Suga Show with a leg kick that deadened the leg of O’Malley and compromised him. Chito went on to finish O’Malley with ground and pound.

Since 2018, Chito Vera has really taken off in the UFC. He’s 6-1 in his last seven fights with the lone loss coming against Song Yadong. However, most people believe that Chito won that fight.

He’s going to have his hands full tomorrow with the former UFC featherweight champion. There are a lot of critics out there who claim that Jose Aldo might be washed up. However, when you look at the 34 year old’s record, you have to look at the losses.

Aldo is just 3-6 in his last nine fights in the UFC. His loss against Marlon Moraes was razor close and I actually had Aldo winning the fight. The other five losses were to Max Holloway (Twice), Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, and Petr Yan.

All four of those fighters are world champions. Make no mistake about it, Jose Aldo is still one of the best fighters in the bantamweight division. The former UFC champion still has a lot left in the tank.

UFC Vegas 17 Prediction

The UFC Vegas 17 co-main event is a good one. When it comes to the fight, I think it’s a very difficult stylistic matchup for Chito Vera. Vera has looked very good over the last couple of years, but this is a really tough one for him.

When Chito fought O’Malley, he was really struggling early on. O’Malley was landing clean leg kicks and Chito was biting on almost every feint. Vera went on to make the adjustments needed, but that fight wasn’t looking good until that perfect low kick landed.

Chito has a very good top game, however, I can’t see him getting Aldo to the ground. On the feet, I don’t think Chito will have the speed or power advantage over Aldo either. Thus, it’s hard for me to pick him to win this fight.

I think at UFC Vegas 17 we are going to see Jose Aldo really put on a good performance. I think if he’s aggressive and works the body of Chito, he’s going to be able to comfortably win this one tomorrow night.

Prediction: Jose Aldo by Unanimous Decision