Following his recent loss to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Abu Dhabi, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera has brought light to a situation that happened in round one which he claims could’ve altered the outcome of the fight.
Since moving up to the bantamweight division, Deiveson Figueiredo has showcased that he is a potential title contender, and his recent win over Marlon Vera at UFC Abu Dhabi has put him firmly in the conversation.
With his impressive win, ‘Deus da Guerra’ climbed up to rank five in the division, likely only needing one more win before he finds himself fighting for another title.
Marlon Vera explains his mistake of returning too early
The fight was an extremely close one and on two of the judges’ scorecards, it was one round each heading into the final round.
From there, the Brazilian managed to take over quite convincingly and won the unanimous decision after picking up the third round.
Now having had time to reflect on the fight, ‘Chito’ still believes he returned to action too soon after his tough fight against Sean O’Malley at UFC 299 this past March.
“I just want to say one thing about me coming back a little too quick, me and the team definitely got to the conclusion that we definitely came back too soon. I went into a five-round war with the champion and we all agreed that after my March title fight, we would come back either in November or December,” Vera explained in a video on his YouTube channel.
“That was a mistake on us, I would say on me (that I came back earlier than we agreed), because we are a team and we all agreed to come back even if we say not to, sometimes you just feel good and say f*** it and roll the dice,” he continued.
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Chito Vera claims point deduction should’ve come in round one
Despite admitting that he came back too soon, the 31-year-old has also claimed there was a moment in round one that could’ve altered the outcome of the fight, and that Figueiredo should’ve been deducted a point.
“The only thing that I want to take away from this fight or at least I want to start with, it was like, that axe kick that he landed in the first round that wasn’t an accident that went straight into my face (while I was down), I feel like that should be taken, a point deducted automatically.
“That’s my thought and what I believe, you go by the rules you don’t kick a grounded opponent. I would understand if I was playing the game with the hand, but I was on my guard and that was a clean-ass kick to the face.
“That’s something different that could change the route of the fight because I’m getting my head bounced on the ground… that’s an illegal shot and I would say if that would be a point deduction we could be talking a different story right now,” Vera stated.
The moment the Ecuadorian is talking about came in the very final second of the round. As Vera managed to kick Figueiredo out of top control with only seconds to go, the Brazilian marched forward an landed an axe kick to the head of Vera, seemingly after the horn.
Keith Peterson didn’t even warn the former flyweight champion of the blow and sent the two back to their corners.
As for what’s next for Vera, the 31-year-old has revealed he will be taking an extended period of time off for certain, this time round, and will be smart considering his next move.
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