Marlon Vera is still looking to redeem himself for a title fight loss to Sean O’Malley 19 months ago and it all continues later tonight (Sat., Oct. 18, 2025) at UFC Vancouver LIVE on ESPN+ from inside Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, when “Chito” meets red-hot contender, Aiemann Zahabi, on the main card.
In case you forgot, Vera fought for the UFC bantamweight title just two fights ago. That matchup came up against Sean O’Malley — who was the current champion at that time — at UFC 299
back in Mar. 2024. It was a pretty lopsided affair as O’Malley cruised to a unanimous decision win and defended his UFC title for the first and only time. Labeling it a disappointing outing from Vera would be a drastic understatement.
“I didn’t fight smart at all,” said Vera earlier this week during an interview with Shakiel Mahjouri. “My whole thought process was, I wanted to kill this guy. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to step on his throat and throw a rock in his face. That’s literally how I fought, and that’s not good. I learned from it and paid the price — the biggest opportunity of my life.”
Vera, who is still just 32 years of age despite fighting in UFC for over a decade, was unable to rebound from his defeat to O’Malley when he suffered another decision loss — this time to former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo — in Aug. 2024. That means Vera hasn’t tasted victory since a decision win over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 all the way back in Aug. 2023.
That’s a long time between wins for someone like Vera, but he has a good chance of stopping the bleeding tonight and starting his journey back to a UFC title shot.
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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vancouver fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card matchups scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vancouver news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here. For the updated and finalized “De Ridder vs. Allen” fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
