Marlon Vera

Overview

Eleven losses in the UFC, and not one of them came by knockout or submission. Every one went to the judges.

Meanwhile, 12 of Marlon Vera's 16 UFC wins were finishes: eight by KO/TKO, four by submission. The bantamweight from Chone, Ecuador is 16-11 in the UFC, and the split is stark. He either ends the fight or loses on the scorecards.

He carries a one-fight win streak into his next fight.

UFC Career

Vera debuted in November 2014 with a unanimous decision loss to Marco Beltran. Early on, the results zigzagged. He submitted Roman Salazar in round 2, dropped a decision to Davey Grant, then won three straight, including a round 3 TKO of Brad Pickett and a first-round submission of Brian Kelleher. Two decision losses followed, to John Lineker and Douglas Silva de Andrade.

The first long run came from 2018 to 2019: five straight finishes against Wulijiburen, Guido Cannetti, Frankie Saenz, Nohelin Hernandez and Andre Ewell. That five-fight streak is his longest in the UFC. Song Yadong ended it by decision.

In August 2020 he stopped Sean O'Malley at 4:40 of round 1, a win over an opponent our model rates as strong. A decision loss to Jose Aldo followed, then another surge: a decision over Grant, a round 3 TKO of Frankie Edgar, and a five-round unanimous decision over Rob Font in a main event. In August 2022 he headlined again and stopped Dominick Cruz in round 4.

The next stretch has been harder. Cory Sandhagen beat him by split decision in a five-round main event, and Vera beat Pedro Munhoz by decision. In the March 2024 rematch with O'Malley, he lost over five rounds. Decision losses to Deiveson Figueiredo, Aiemann Zahabi and David Martinez followed, three in a row against strong or elite opposition.

He snapped that run by knocking out Charles Jourdain in round 3.

Every one of his six most recent losses went the distance. So did every other loss on his UFC ledger.

Fighting Style

Vera is a busy striker who lands more than most UFC fighters. He also takes a lot back, and his accuracy and defense are about average. He gets hit, but he usually hits back more.

His grappling is lopsided. He is very hard to take down, yet he rarely shoots for takedowns himself. He does hunt for submissions, and four of his wins came that way. Three of those four came in round 2.

His finishes tend to come late. Four of his eight KO/TKO wins came in round 3, and one more in round 4. Only three of his 12 finishes came in the first round.

Notable Wins

• Sean O'Malley — KO/TKO, round 1, UFC 252 (2020)
• Frankie Edgar — KO/TKO, round 3, UFC 268 (2021)
• Rob Font — unanimous decision, round 5, UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Vera (2022)
• Dominick Cruz — KO/TKO, round 4, UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz (2022)

Quick Facts

• Division: Bantamweight
• UFC record: 16-11 (8 KO/TKO, 4 submission, 4 decision)
• Professional record (all promotions): 24-12-1
• UFC debut: 2014
• Stance: Switch
• Reach: 70.5"
• Height: 5'8"
• Team: Team 5050 Guayaquil Ecuador
• Born: Chone, Ecuador