UFC: Marlon Vera outlasts Rob Font in bantamweight brawl, vows to ‘bring the belt to Ecuador’
- Ecuadorean scores multiple knock-downs to earn unanimous decision win over No 5-ranked bantamweight contender Font
- ‘I feel like everything I’ve dreamed of in my life is happening,’ he says – ‘I’m going to be a world champion’
Ecuador’s Marlon Vera picked up a career-changing victory on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The 29-year-old bantamweight was in action in the main event of the UFC on ESPN 35 card, taking on the division’s No 5-ranked contender Rob Font.
He ultimately won a unanimous decision victory that should propel him into the uppermost ranks of his weight class – perhaps even into a No 1 contender fight.
“It’s been a long journey for me,” an emotional Vera told commentator Michael Bisping after the fight, with his wife and three children in the Octagon. “It means the world. I feel like everything I’ve dreamed of in my life is happening.
“I’m going to be a world champion. I’m bringing the belt to Ecuador.”
In victory, Vera (21-7-1) is now on a three-fight streak, having knocked out former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and defeated Davey Grant by decision in his next most recent appearances. His last defeat occurred in 2020, when he lost a decision to former featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
In his post-fight interview, the Ecuadorean called for a fight with the bantamweight division’s No 2, 3 or 4-ranked contenders: TJ Dillashaw, Aldo and Cory Sandhagen respectively.
