Marlon Vera meets rising bantamweight Mario Bautista at UFC Des Moines
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