Marlon Vera will look to snap his losing skid against a surging UFC bantamweight.
Vera (23-10-1 MMA, 15-9 UFC) meets Mario Bautista (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in a UFC Fight Night event on May 3 in Des Moines, Iowa (ESPN+).
X user TuckTalksMMA first reported the news, which Bautista subsequently confirmed on his Instagram stories. Vera confirmed he’s fighting May 3.
“Chito” has lost his past two outings – a title-fight setback against former champion Sean O’Malley followed by a unanimous decision loss to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC on ABC 7 this past August. His most recent win came over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292.
Bautista is coming off a split decision win over former champion Jose Aldo at UFC 307 in October. The 31-year-old was criticized for his performance against “The King of Rio,” but was able to extend his winning streak to seven.
The current UFC Des Moines lineup includes:
Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Gillian Robertson vs. Marina Rodriguez
Jeong Yeong Lee vs. Trevor Peek
Serhiy Sidey vs. Cameron Smotherman
Junior Tafa vs. Tuco Tokkos
Mario Bautista vs. Marlon Vera
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