Marlon Vera breaks his silence following disappointing UFC Abu Dhabi loss… ‘Maybe I come back too quick’

In an attempt to keep his name in the bantamweight title picture, ‘Chito’ was hopeful of putting a stop to the Brazilian’s impressive first few outings at 135lbs.

Marlon Vera provides a statement following UFC Abu Dhabi loss

Typically, Vera’s problem has always been how slow he starts in fights, leaving himself a lot to do in the final rounds. This past Saturday was no different as he lost the first round on all three judges’ scorecards.

The 31-year-old came out in round two more active and more on the front foot, having known he lost the first round. In the opening round, ‘Chito’ only landed eight significant strikes, whereas in round two he landed 18, four more than Figgy.

After taking the second round on two of the judges’ scorecards, it was 1-1 heading into the final round, where ultimately, ‘Deus Da Guerra’s’ champion experience came through trumps.

Following the fight, Vera seemed disappointed with the scoring but didn’t kick up too much of a fuss. In a statement a day after the crushing loss, Vera questioned whether he returned too soon after his tough title fight against Sean O’Malley in March.

“I failed myself last night. I thought I was ready I felt good in the gym but at the end maybe I came back too quickly after a hard title fight. Life doesn’t end here I still dream about big things I just need time to let go and reset,” Vera emotionally stated in a post on Instagram.

Sean O’Malley claims he will knock out ‘little t***’ Figueiredo

Although it was the UFC Abu Dhabi main event that had major title implications, a win for Figueiredo has firmly put him in the title picture, with him now holding three impressive wins since joining the weight class last year.

Now likely having cracked the top five of the division, the 36-year-old is eyeing a title shot for his next fight, however, he may have to fight once more before he is afforded that, with Umar Nurmagomedov next in line.

O’Malley is set to defend his title against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on September 14, with the winner fighting Nurmagomedov after that.

Despite that, ‘Suga’ has recognized Figueiredo’s success and the Brazilian captured his attention as the champion claimed he would knock out Figueiredo if they fought.

“I’d KO that little t***,” O’Malley tweeted on X following Figgy’s impressive win.

Even though Figueiredo and O’Malley have a little bit of history, the Brazilian doesn’t care who wins at UFC 306, he just wants to fight for the belt.

“I think it’s gonna be an insane fight, we’ve got O’Malley who’s a great striker and we’ve got Merab with the grappling so you know, I wanna fight whoever (has) the belt because I want to fight for my belt,” the former flyweight champion explained.

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