Top UFC Bantamweights set to collide in Vera vs. Yan? After UFC 299, Marlon “Chito” Vera set his sights on what is next for him at 135 pounds and has called out the former UFC Bantamweight champ, Petr Yan, who collected a win against Song Yadong earlier that night.
Petr Yan vs. Marlon Vera
UFC 299 saw the rematch of 2020’s unranked matchup between “Suga” Sean O’Malley vs. Chito Vera in which Vera secured win via Knockout in the very first round. This defeat has acted as the one bleminish on O’Malley’s MMA record while he has gone on to win the UFC Bantamweight title and cruise to a 5-round decision revenge victory on Vera back in March 2024 as his first title defense.
Meanwhile, earlier that night, former UFC champ Yan opened the main card against a surging young contender Yadong, fresh off a TKO victory over Ricky Simon and a decision win over Chris Gutiérrez in 2023. In a back-and-forth slugfest, Yan claimed a 29-28 unanimous decision victory which marked his first UFC win since defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 in October 2021. With the win over Yadong, the 31-year old Yan has catapulted himself back into the top 5 after a short hiatus, landing himself at 4 one spot ahead of the previous title challenger Chito Vera.
Chito’s Next Steps
Since the defeat, Vera joined Ariel Helwani to elaborate on what is next for the 23-9-1 Ecuadorian Bantamweight fighter. When talking the Helwani, Vera elaborated that he is “hoping to fight Yan in November” as it “would be a great fight that makes sense.” The former title challenger is most likely referring to the two’s close proximity in the UFC Bantamweight rankings and their timelines to return to the octagon are on a potential collision course for Vera vs. Yan.
Vera has been on a tear within the top 15 of the Bantamweight division since the first fight and win over O’Malley, going 6-3 against what many consider to be the toughest division top-to-bottom in the promotion. In this span, Vera has racked up wins over former champions Dominick Cruz and Frankie Edgar both by KO while also taking decision wins over division stalwarts Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font. As he begins another climb back to the title picture, what else makes sense than matching himself up with another former 135er in a similar position?
Yan’s Road to Redemption
Petr Yan stacked up a 15-1 pro MMA record after winning the vacant UFC Bantamweight Title in July 2020 over Jose Aldo and was looking poised to be the face of the division for years to come. However, following the controversial DQ loss to Aljamain Sterling in his first title defense, Yan went on a 1-3 skid with the 3 losses coming in a row from 2022 to 2023. Following the last decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili in March 2023, Yan took a full 12 months away from the octagon circle before returning to winning ways at UFC 299 vs. Yadong.
In a recent interview, Yan got some time to reflect and give a response to Chito’s proposed next steps for the pair. Yan stated that “Yes, I’ll be ready just in time for November” and that he will be “taking him [Vera] to mixed martial arts school.” While the optimisim is high from Yan based on the reply, it was previously reported by Yan on his X account that he had torn his meniscus as well as ruptured his ACL and suffering a groin injury which he underwent surgery for soon after UFC 299. Despite Yan publicly appearing to agree to that November date, time will only tell if his recovery process will get him ready to line up opposite Chito Vera in the UFC octagon.
As time passes, this Vera vs. Yan matchup might bring more clarity as Yan continues to heal and that November date inches closer for both fighters.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
