Marlon Vera has had bigger fights in his career, but maybe none more important than his showdown with Charles Jourdain at UFC 331.
The one-time bantamweight title challenger was on a career-worst four-fight losing streak heading into Saturday’s event in Los Angeles, and a loss to the fast-rising Jourdain would have left “Chito” on shaky ground. However, Vera put on a resurgent performance, battering Jourdain for two rounds before scoring a knockout victory in the third.
Immediately after the referee stepped in, an emotional Vera dropped to his knees in celebration, and later told reporters that he fully felt the magnitude of the win.
“It’s not a secret,” Vera said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “It’s been a long time just failing short and failing short. You know, you lose two in a row, it’s part of the game. Then when I went and faced [Aiemann] Zahabi, I was like, finally, I woke up. I felt that I was winning. Split decision loss. Then I kind of felt like I was just in a hole. It was like a nightmare. I couldn’t get out of there. Then I went to fight in Mexico City and I fell short again and it’s just like every wall around is falling in top of me.
“Today, literally, the whole camp was amazing, but walking into the locker room, walking into warming up, there was a lot of demons just knocking the door and kicking the door. I was just like, ‘F*ck you, man.” I’ve got to feed my family.”
Vera’s losing skid began when the fan favorite finally got a UFC bantamweight championship opportunity against Sean O’Malley at UFC 299 in March 2024. O’Malley was looking to avenge the first loss of his career after being defeated by Vera at UFC 252, and won unanimous decision to even the score.
Following that loss, Vera went on to to lose decisions to Deiveson Figueiredo, Aiemann Zahabi, and David Martinez. Vera had only lost consecutive fights once in his career prior to this recent slump. He made a camp change ahead of UFC 331, parting with longtime head coach Jason Parillo to work with fellow UFC bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. and his brothers, and he credits his new team with helping him avoid what could have been a life-altering loss.
“I want to keep my job,” Vera said. “I’m healthy. I feel strong. Nothing has changed in that matter, it’s just I was making myself a lot of questions, that’s why this camp I brought two of my coaches from the past, joined forces with the Rosas’, and I just told myself I’m going to give myself a chance to see what I can do with a different look.
“Again, win, lose, or draw, I have never been the guy that goes and points fingers and talks shit, it’s just tonight was literally fighting for the plate of food for my family. I was literally doing that because with another loss tonight I wouldn’t be able to handle that as a man. I would literally be looking for a job on Monday because I don’t want to lose that many times in a row. I don’t want my kids to see that. I work too hard for this, so tonight I just fought like my life depended on it and moving forward I felt the changes work. Mentally, I was more creative, I was more in the moment and I felt great.”
For Vera, this was his 27th UFC appearance and he now hold a 16-11 record inside the octagon. He admitted that as fight time approached, his body reacted in a way he’d never experienced before.
In the end, that turned out to be a good thing.
“When I wake up, I felt kind of the same, like the same nerves,” Vera said. “You’re like, ‘F*ck, I’ve got to do this shit tonight.’ I don’t think no one wakes up and is like, ‘Woo, let’s f*cking go.’ I mean, maybe somebody, but not me. Then I get my breakfast, eat a little toast with butter. Now it’s like, OK, tonight I have the chance to recover my career back, almost in a way get back on the horse and lead my way.
“But then when I got to the arena, my whole body was warm and boiling. I remember that feeling from early in my career when you’re, like, actually nervous. Maybe I got too numb to the feeling, that’s why I was kind of just hard and slow, I don’t know, but today since the bus drive here with my team and the locker room, I even told them like, ‘Dude, I feel hot right now,’ but I felt like the blood was pumping. I was like, it’s got to be a good thing, I’m alive. Then going back to the voices in my head, I just really felt the support of my team, from teammates, trainers, managers, my family, I just felt the love, ‘No matter what, dude, you’re going to be good. Just go in there and do your thing, it’s your time.’ F*ck, man, I’m very grateful. I’m very grateful for the people that decide to help me and come back and help me and I’m looking forward for what we can do next.”
