The Octagon’s return to Newark, New Jersey has lost one of the fights that was set to take place on the PPV main card.
UFC 315 only took place a few days ago but as is always the case in MMA, the sport never stops moving and that means that UFC 316 isn’t too far away.
June 7 sees the MMA leader arrives at the Prudential Center where the bantamweight title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley tops the bill.
Along with the grudge match between Joe Pyfer and Kelvin Gastelum, there are some fun matchups on the card, even if it isn’t the strongest PPV event of 2025.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest clashes has now fallen off after the UFC already confirmed that it would take place on the main card.
Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera withdraws from UFC 316 matchup with Mario Bautista
Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera is out of his UFC 316 bout with Mario Bautista for undisclosed reasons, as was first reported by MagicM_MMABets on X, formerly Twitter.
The former bantamweight title challenger is still ranked at the #7 position following back-to-back losses during his 2024 campaign.
Following a one-sided defeat in his rematch with Sean O’Malley at UFC 299 in March, Vera was beaten by Deiveson Figueiredo in Abu Dhabi this past August.
As for Bautista, who is ranked #10, he is one of the most in-form contenders at 135-pounds having won seven consecutive fights.
His last defeat came all the way back at UFC 259 in March of 2021 with the American controversially defeating Jose Aldo last time out at UFC 307 in October.
MMA Fighting reported that the promotion is looking to secure Bautista a replacement opponent with several weeks to go until fight night, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
Vera vs Bautista was scheduled to be the second fight on the PPV main card following the matchup between Vicente Luque and Kevin Holland.
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Who could Mario Bautista face instead of Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera?
When looking at the UFC’s bantamweight rankings, there are several names surrounding Mario Bautista who don’t have fights booked that would make for suitable replacements.
The main issue is that they don’t have the name value of someone like Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera but former title challengers are hard to come by, especially on late notice.
Rob Font, Kyler Phillips and Marcus McGhee would all make sense but by far the most exciting option would be a competitor that isn’t currently signed to the UFC.
PFL recently announced that Patchy Mix has parted ways with the promotion and what better way to make up for lost time than having the 20-1 former Bellator champion jump right in at the earliest possible date.