Marlon Vera was looking to earn his fifth win in a row when he squared off with Cory Sandhagen in tonight’s UFC San Antonio main event.
Vera (20-8 MMA) entered the contest sporting a four-fight winning streak, his most previous being a KO victory over Dominick Cruz (24-4 MMA) in August of last year.
Standing in the way of ‘Chito’s’ path to title contention was Cory Sandhagen (16-4 MMA).
‘The Sandman’ was looking to build off the momentum from his TKO victory over Song Yadong in September of last year. Prior to that win, Sandhagen had dropped back-to-back decision losses to TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan.
While many fans, analysts and fellow fighters had Marlon Vera picked to emerge victorious in tonight’s headliner, that did not prove to be the case. Instead, it was Sandhagen who put on one of the finer performances of his career, seemingly getting the better of ‘Chito’ throughout the course of their twenty-five-minute affair.
Sandhagen was able to get the better of Vera on the ground in the early rounds and continued to do well in the standup in through rounds three through five. Although one judge awarded the fight to ‘Chito’, it was pretty clear to everyone that the other two judges’ made the right call in Sandhagen.
Official UFC San Antonio Result: Cory Sandhagen def. Marlon Vera by split decision (47-48, 50-45, 49-46)
Vera never seemed to find his groove this evening in Texas, and shortly following the conclusion of the event he issued the following statement on his losing performance:
Fell short today got zero excuses just remember something I won’t stop. This sucks but fucks it’s life.
— C H🖕🏽T O🇪🇨V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) March 26, 2023
“Fell short today got zero excuses just remember something I won’t stop. This sucks but fucks it’s life.” – Vera wrote on Twitter.
Gracias a todos los ecuatorianos presente hoy ! Intente y me quede corto pero nunca me quedaré donde estoy. Se vive y se sigue ❤️🇪🇨
— C H🖕🏽T O🇪🇨V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) March 26, 2023
With tonight’s loss, Marlon Vera is now on the outside of the bantamweight title picture looking in. The division is absolutely stacked and currently boasts two viable contenders for the winner of Sterling vs. Cejudo in the form of Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.
Who would you like to see ‘Chito’ fight next? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
