UNIONDALE, N.Y. – UFC bantamweight Marlon Vera has made it abundantly clear that he’ll fight anybody, anywhere, at any time.
The fact that he’s now riding a three-fight streak following a first-round submission of Brian Kelleher (17-8 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 25 hasn’t changed that. But Vera (10-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) does see the logic in solving some unfinished business with a contender who’d later come out victorious of his own UFC on FOX 25 scrap.
In January, Jimmie Rivera (21-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) had agreed to Vera as a substitute when Bryan Caraway pulled out of a UFC Fight Night 103 appointment. Rivera, however, later changed his mind, saying that he didn’t want to “look like a bully” and get in the way of the Ecuadorian fighter making money to help his daughter get surgery.
It seems like Vera – who actually called for the winner of Rivera vs. Thomas Almeida before that fight took place – didn’t really buy it.
“It was really tough for me, because I cut 15 pounds in two days for that fight,” Vera said after his preliminary card bantamweight scrap, which streamed live on UFC Fight Pass from NYCB LIVE at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. “I went to the gym, and to the sauna, because I was super motivated to fight a top guy. And I was expecting respect from him, and he just said, ‘Oh, I don’t want to hurt him.’
“And then what pissed me off is the said, ‘I don’t want to fight him, because if I beat him, he’s not going to be able to help his daughter.’ And in my mind, I was like, ‘You don’t have a brain. Because if you beat me, I cash a check. So I’m still making something.’ That’s what pissed me off. I’ve got nothing against him, but when he says things like that, he makes no sense at all.”
As evidenced by the double call-out of ex-135-pound-champs T.J. Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz right after his perfect display over Almeida, Rivera already has his sights somewhere else. But, in any case, it’s not like Vera is going to be too heartbroken if that matchup doesn’t happen.
Another option, “Chito” says, is undefeated bantamweight Brett Johns (14-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) – who recently scored a dominant UFC Fight Night 113 decision over Albert Morales. After the win, the Welshman said he was coming off what was virtually a 20-week camp and wasn’t planning on fighting again until December.
“Whatever the UFC wants to give me,” Vera said. “If I get that Rivera fight, cool. If I get that kid from Europe, cool. If I get somebody else, I don’t care. We’ll fight anybody; you guys know that.”
But don’t take Vera’s willingness to accept any challenge as a sign of lack of ambition. Confident that his game is getting better with each fight, the Team Oyama fighter says he’ll be back to the gym on Monday looking to keep making his path toward the top.
“I want to give my country a champion one day, so I’m working on that,” Vera said.
To hear from Vera, check out the video above.
And for complete coverage of UFC on FOX 25, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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