Marlon Vera’s first attempt to become the undisputed bantamweight champion fell short at the hands of “Suga” Sean O’Malley at UFC 299. Vera now looks to bounce back from the one-sided beating. Standing in his way is Deiveson Figueiredo, the former flyweight champion.
After O’Malley became champion at UFC 292, he called out Vera, the only man to defeat him. However, Vera had no winning streak and was outside the top five. Next up for Vera is Figueiredo, who is on a two-fight winning streak in the bantamweight division at UFC Abu Dhabi.
Marlon Vera is not taking Deiveson Figueiredo lightly
After fighting Brandon Moreno four times in a row, Deiveson Figueiredo left the flyweight division and moved to bantamweight, defeating Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt. Therefore, Vera is not taking his fight against the Brazilian lightly, as evidenced by his interview on the MMA Hour.
“I’m not taking it easy, I’m not chilling right now. I’m fu**ing, I’m going four by four, I really want to get in there and make this guy fu**ing softer. And just, I just want to get on top with a win. And I’m figured out how to get back to a title conversation, and the best way to do that is going to Abu Dhabi and fu**ing rip this man apart,” said Vera to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour.
UFC Abu Dhabi, headlined by Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov, is the promotion’s 19th visit to the Emirati city. With the winner of Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov fighting for the title, the winner of Vera and Figuerido can seemingly insert themselves into the title picture.
Merab Dvalishvili will likely fight Sean O’Malley next. Therefore, if he is victorious against Figueiredo, Vera can target the loser of O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili for his next fight. Vera has a clear pathway for a second title shot. All he has to do is win two fights straight.
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Also Read: Former Champion Petr Yan Gives His Take on Claims Marlon Vera Wants to Scrap
