Deiveson Figueiredo continued to show how solid he is in his new bantamweight home, as he defeated former title challenger Marlon Vera via unanimous decision at Saturday's UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi.
As he normally does, Vera got off to a slow start in the opening frame, with Figueiredo utilizing his wrestling and starting to work a good pace with his strikes. "Chito," however, appeared to battle back in the second round, landing stronger strikes.
Figueiredo still brought some trouble with his pacing and stance switching, and he finally countered Vera's strength in the third when he scored a knockdown.
Overall, two judges scored the fight 29-28, and one 30-27, all in the Brazilian's favor.
Deiveson Figueiredo Stays Unbeaten At Bantamweight After Dropping, Outlasting Marlon "Chito" Vera
Figueiredo, the former two-time UFC flyweight champion, is now 3-0 at 135 pounds following wins over Rob Font and Cody Garbrandt.
Vera, meanwhile, has now dropped three of his last four, one of which was his unsuccessful attempt to take the bantamweight title from Sean O'Malley at UFC 299 in Miami this past March.