Marlon Vera is ready to put his title-fight loss to Sean O’Malley behind him and start his rebuild at UFC on ABC 7.
After stepping into the octagon two dozen times, Vera (21-9-1 MMA, 15-8 UFC) finally got his long-awaited title shot in March with a rematch against Sean O’Malley. It didn’t go his way as he took a largely one-sided unanimous decision defeat at UFC 299 that sent him back to the drawing board.
According to “Chito,” the damage sustained in the loss to O’Malley wasn’t as bad as it looked superficially. He felt healthy enough to book another fight less than five months later and will take on former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (23-3-1 MMA, 12-3-1 UFC) on Saturday’s card at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi (ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+).
“Why wait? That experience from my last fight, if I wait too long, I kind of will, not forget, but kind of get my feet too dry,” Vera told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “I just wanted to stay active. I’m feeling good in the gym with wrestling and sparring. Things are moving forward. We made adjustments. Definitely we made adjustments, and I’m feeling great.”
Figueiredo is 2-0 since moving up to 135 pounds in December, having beaten Rob Font by decision in his divisional debut, then becoming the first to submit former champion Cody Garbrandt in April at UFC 300.
Vera, 31, said he respects what his Brazilian foe has done so far since changing weight classes but thinks this is the fight where he will realize flyweight is the better fit for his future.
“He’s a great fighter,” Vera said. “He seems like he punches hard, seems like he’s a strong guy. He’s been using a lot of his jiu-jitsu and wrestling lately, so maybe he feels that the power and size difference is too much. But he took the ground the last two opponents. Let’s see what he brings to the table. I just feel like I’m going to make an example of him, and I’m going to send him back to (flyweight).”
Vera, No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, said he thinks he’s corrected the things that went wrong against O’Malley and is confident he can make another run at the title. He acknowledges it would’ve been easy to see his motivation fizzle after reaching a title fight and falling short, but it has only fueled him more.
“It would be the easiest thing to give up and say, ‘This is not for me,'” Vera said. “To be honest, I’m very hungry. I just want to show a good example. Mainly to my kids, to my family, to the people that love me. But at the end of the day, this is a worldwide sport or business, or whatever you want to call it. You can inspire a lot of people by just showing you can come back.
“You can make adjustments in life. You can get up and get it done, and that’s what I’m doing right now. Why stay down when that’s the easiest option? Just let things go? I’m not meant for that. I’m looking forward to showing what I can do.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 7.
