“Chito” is upset.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight title challenger Marlon Vera suffered another tough setback last night (Sat., Oct. 18, 2025), losing a competitive split decision
to surging No. 9-ranked contender Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Vancouver inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Vera entered the fight determined to reinvent himself after a long layoff. The 32-year-old Ecuadorian overhauled his training, cutting out his infamous long-distance runs — where he used to log up to 15 miles on Sundays — in favor of explosive sprint work designed to fix his notoriously slow starts. Despite that adjustment, Vera still dropped the first round, which, in hindsight, cost him dearly.
In the second frame, “Chito” found his rhythm, rocking Zahabi with a sharp right hand and following up with aggressive ground-and-pound to clearly take the round. But once again, his urgency faded late. In the third, Zahabi pushed the pace, landing cleaner shots and doing just enough to sway the judges.
After the bout, Vera voiced his frustration in typical fashion, taking to social media to air his grievances.
“ Sometimes things can get really dark,” Vera wrote on social media. “But not giving up will get you light. Don’t get it twisted I won tonight, we got robbed in Canada.”
“Today I won and the judges robbed me,” Vera doubled down in another post.
While it was close, Vera (23-11-1) has no one to blame but himself. The loss marks his third straight defeat and his fourth in five fights, extending the toughest stretch of his UFC career.
For complete UFC Vancouver results and play-by-play click here.
