UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera begins his pursuit of a second title shot this weekend, and he’ll seemingly do so with a fresh strategy.
Vera is set to make the walk on Saturday’s UFC Fight Night main card in Abu Dhabi, where the Etihad Arena plays host to some key contests at 135 pounds.
While that most notably includes the main event title eliminator between Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov, “Chito” will be looking to revive his championship ambitions earlier on in proceedings opposite former two-time UFC flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo.
The Ecuadorian had his first shot at gold end unsuccessfully at UFC 299 in Miami this past March. He was unable to repeat his 2021 victory over Sean O’Malley, falling to a lopsided decision defeat in their rematch.
As has been a trend for much of his career, Vera was criticized in the aftermath for a low-volume approach that was focused on landing a fight-ending blow.
While such a strategy saw him come from behind to knock out the likes of Dominick Cruz in the past, Vera knows that change is needed if he’s to reach the mountaintop.
Vera On Figueiredo Fight: ‘Maybe You Will See Me Throw More…’
During a recent interview with former UFC champion Michael Bisping and light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith, Vera looked ahead to his first outing since O’Malley exacted revenge at his expense earlier this year.
“Chito” acknowledged some of the well-known flaws in his fight style, but noted that work has been done to address them as he gears up to share the cage with “Deus Da Guerra” on August 3.
“Some adjustments on the conditioning and getting my feet a bit more mobile. I’ve been feeling great,” Vera said. “What I personally think was like, okay, I have great grappling but I’m not the fighter that wants to take you down and hold you down. For this time, we did a lot of grappling so I can get back kind of to my roots. But I also want to like, put all my numbers together instead of just looking for power.
“I know I hit hard and that sometimes makes me stay in the mud. Because I have great defense. But it’s like, I need to do something different. I didn’t win the (title) fight; I need to do something different,” Vera continued. “Maybe in this fight you will see me throw more. Instead of just looking for that big one, I’m gonna do a little more.”
Vera will look to show the improvements he’s made in recent months come fight night in the Middle East, as he looks to show that his title ambitions didn’t fizzle away entirely at the hands of O’Malley at UFC 299.
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