Chito Vera, UFC 299 official weigh-in Credit score: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Vera might be again in motion when the UFC heads to Des Moines, Iowa this this Could.
Vera (23-10-1) will face off in opposition to Mario Bautista (15-2) on the Struggle Evening occasion, scheduled for Could 3, 2025 on the Wells Fargo Area in Des Moines.
“Chito” Vera began 2024 on a excessive observe, booked right into a combat for the UFC bantamweight title in opposition to rival and then-champ Sean O’Malley at UFC 299. That got here off a single win over Pedro Munhoz, although previous to a cut up resolution loss to Cory Sandhagen, Vera had notched wins in opposition to Frankie Edgar, Dominick Cruz, and Rob Font as a part of a four-fight win streak.
Nonetheless, the excessive observe turned bitter when Vera misplaced to O’Malley in a lacklustre exhibiting, then misplaced a second resolution to Deiveson Figueiredo final August.
He’ll try to show issues round in opposition to Mario Bautista, who’s red-hot in the meanwhile driving a seven combat win streak contained in the octagon. Most just lately, Bautista earned a win over former featherweight champ Jose Aldo.
Marlon Vera is ranked #7, and Bautista #10 within the UFC bantamweight division at the moment.
UFC Des Moines has only a handful of fights reported for it to date. These are:
Park Jun-yong vs. Ismail Naurdiev
Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammed Usman
Serghei Spivac vs. Shamil Gaziev
Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista
