A brand new “Chito” is coming.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight title challenger Marlon Vera returns to action against surging Canadian contender Aiemann Zahabi in the “Featured”
bout of UFC Vancouver this weekend (Sat., Oct. 19, 2025) inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
It’s been 14 months since Vera last competed — the longest layoff of his professional career — but according to him, that break was exactly what he needed.
“It had something to do with skill or on a mental level definitely if you’re falling short,” Vera told reporters when asked about his recent two-fight skid. “I could make excuses and blame everybody, but when it comes down to it, I had to sit down and talk about it. I really feel like I was burned out. I train too hard — not because of anything bad, but because I love to do it. I mean, I don’t drink, I don’t party, I don’t sniff cocaine, so what else can I do? Train all day, every day.”
“Plus, I love my long-distance running, and 50 miles on Sunday — you’re f—ked on Monday,” Vera added.
One of the biggest criticisms of Vera’s career has been his tendency to start slow, often giving away early rounds before finding his rhythm. For this camp, however, “Chito” completely overhauled his conditioning routine. Gone are the 30-to-50-mile Sunday runs — replaced with sprints and explosive drills designed to sharpen his speed and reaction time.
“We did a lot of sprinting,” Vera said. “We switched the long-distance running to sprints twice a week and saw changes. When we were sparring, it showed — I was a little quicker in the first round, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s what it was.’ When you’re running for three to four hours, you’re not going to have fast twitch — you’re going to last forever. But we’re only fighting 15 minutes, so I thought that was a good change.”
According to Vera, the results have already shown up in training. Whether they translate inside the Octagon remains to be seen — but after admitting and addressing his biggest weakness, a sharper, faster version of “Chito” might be on the horizon.
The 24-fight UFC vet is currently a +105 underdog to Zahabi.
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