Welcome to the team! Monster Energy congratulates newly signed MMA athlete Marlon Vera on his victory over Davey Grant in the main card fight at UFC Vegas 29 on Saturday night.
In the bantamweight bout at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 28-year-old from Chone, Ecuador dominated his opponent to a third-round victory via unanimous decision. Both fighters also earned the UFC’s $50,000 ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for their performance.
Contested in front of a small crowd of spectators, UFC Vegas 29 was headlined by a featherweight fight featuring The Korean Zombie and Dan Ige. The main card included the highly anticipated rematch between Marlon “Chito” Vera (17-7) and Davey Grant (13-5). The two fighters had initially battled at UFC Fight Night 84 in February 2016 with Grant claiming the victory by decision at the time.
Vera stepped into the Octagon on Saturday looking to settle the score and earn a win after suffering a decision loss to ex-champion Jose Aldo in December 2020. Vera’s opponent, 35-year-old Englishman Dave Grant came to Vegas on a three-win streak, most recently defeating Chris Tognoni via TKO in March 2021.
After the opening bell, Grant brought the pressure with aggressive striking and kicks to the body. But Vera, who trains with Team Oyama in Irvine, California, mounted a powerful counterattack by landing heavy leg kicks that visibly wore down his opponent in Round 1.
In the second round, Vera stunned his opponent by unloading a series of heavy elbows and punches that opened a bloody gash on Grant’s forehead. After Grant missed a guillotine choke attempt, Vera reversed the grapple and assumed top position, dropping blows from above before the bell.
In the final round, Vera battled hard for a submission victory, almost finding it with a rear naked choke and arm triangle. Grant put his full toughness on display by escaping the takedowns and enduring a flurry of heavy elbows and knees after the clinch. The final moments of the fight saw Vera controlling Grant with a rear naked choke that went all the way to the final horn.
After three intense and bloody rounds, Vera earned the victory by unanimous decision with scores of 29–27, 29–28, 30–26. The fight also netted both athletes the UFC’s Fight of the Night bonus worth $50,000.
“I’m feeling great. I won again in front of my wife. I worked my ass of for this and expect nothing less,” said Monster Energy’s Vera upon winning the bantamweight fight at UFC Vegas 29 on Saturday.
Hailing from Chone, Ecuador, Vera made his professional MMA debut in February 2012. The Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competed in regional promotions across Latin America before appearing as a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America reality television show in 2014. He made his official UFC debut later that year and has since built an impressive track record including eight wins by submission and six knockout victories.
Now that he’s back in the winner’s circle, what’s next for Vera? In his post-fight interview, the Ecuadorian fighter called out his Monster teammate Dominick Cruz for a match: “I would like the fight with Cruz. It’s not like I’m dying for the fight, but I think it makes sense. But anybody in that Top 10 to Top 5, I would love to fight,” Vera said. Stay tuned for updates on Vera’s next match-up.
Marlon Vera counts amongst Monster Energy’s elite UFC athletes along with Brandon Moreno, Jon “Bones” Jones, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal, Chris “The All American” Weidman, Daniel Cormier, Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley, Dominick “Dominator” Cruz, Yair Rodriquez, Rose Namajunas, Tony Ferguson, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Maycee “The Future” Barber, Paulo “The Eraser” Costa, Stipe “Stone Cold” Miocic, Michael Chandler, Jessica-Rose Clark, and Valentina Shevchenko.
For more on Monster Energy’s MMA athletes visit www.monsterenergy.com. Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
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