Marlon "Chito" Vera is entering his next fight with his back against the wall, having endured a challenging period in his UFC career of late.
Vera (23-10-1 MMA, 15-9 UFC) is set to take on Mario Bautista (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) at UFC 316 on June 7th. The Ecuadorian veteran endured a tough year in 2024, suffering decision losses to Sean O'Malley and Deiveson Figueiredo, bringing his record to 1–3 over his last four Octagon appearances.
In contrast, Bautista has put together a seven-fight win streak since his last defeat to Trevin Jones in 2021. The 31-year-old most recently secured a split-decision victory over UFC Hall of Famer José Aldo in October 2024.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show this week, Vera expressed his eagerness to face Bautista, viewing the matchup as an opportunity to regain momentum in the bantamweight division.
"Oh, 100%, man", Vera responded when Helwani asked if the fight against Bautista excites him. "That's a guy coming off seven wins. That's a guy that no one has figured out besides Trev Johnson. That's a tough fight, man.
"I mean, if you look at the top 15 or the top five, that's probably the toughest fight. And, you know, I'm here for a reason. This is another chance for me to prove myself and go in there and put a clinic on a guy like this. So I'm excited. I've been training so hard and I'm ready to go, man. This is a big opportunity for me to remind the division what I'm about to do and where I'm going from here."
Despite Mario Bautista's victory over José Aldo at UFC 307 being the most significant win of his career to date, the manner in which he secured the win seemed to tarnish his reputation in the eyes of many fans.
Bautista controlled large portions of the fight by pushing the Brazilian legend against the fence, leading to a chorus of boos echoing throughout Salt Lake City's Delta Center .
Rather than joining the critics and pointing fingers at Bautista for delivering a lackluster performance, Marlon "Chito" Vera chose to question whether the current scoring criteria used by UFC officials might be where the blame should lie.
"Honestly, I don't think the problem is the fighters", Vera told Helwani. "I really believe it's the dinosaurs in charge of scoring. I can't hate a fighter for winning a decision people thought he didn't want. It is what it is. That's not the fighter's fault.
"Going back to my fight, my opponent (Bautista) is a good grappler. Yes, I know that. Can he strike? Sure, he can. It's going to be a tough fight, 100%. So I'm honestly focused on what I'm going to do. I'm not focused on, 'oh, I need to defend the takedown. I'm just as good on the ground, so I'm not worried about if we end on the ground'.
"I grapple really every week with guys that are world champions. AOJ (Art of Jiu Jitsu) probably has the best guys on my size, in my weight in the whole entire world. So I'm not tripping. I just know I'm ready. Whatever comes, if we end up on the ground, amazing. If I defend every takedown, we need to fucking go for broke, go. I'm preparing for most scenarios and I feel good with the work we have been doing."
