Marlon Vera batters, nearly finishes Rob Font multiple times at UFC on ESPN 35
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, April 30, 2022, for UFC on ESPN 35, going down live from the Apex Center in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the card is a bantamweight bout between ranked contenders Rob Font (no. 5) and Marlon Vera (no. 8).
Co-headlining the event is a heavyweight contest that sees former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski face off against Jake Collier.
Arlovski, to our surprise, has gone 5-1 over his last six, while Collier has gone 2-2 since moving up to the heavyweight division.
Reverting back to our main event; Font has gone 4-1 over his last five, only losing to former featherweight champion Jose Aldo, and Vera has gone 8-2 over his last ten, only losing to Song Yadong and Jose Aldo.
Most everyone believes Vera actually defeated Yadong, that decision was incredibly controversial.
Nonetheless, both have defeated a number of high-level opponents in those wins.
Continue reading to see how this featherweight bout went down:
Official Result: Marlon Vera def. Rob Font via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
The bell sounds and these two get right to work!
Font is landing all sorts of punches on Vera, and actually triples Vera’s landed strikes in the first round.
From jabs, to a number of uppercuts, to hooks to the body, he really looked incredible throughout the first five minutes.
Vera lands some leg kicks and body kicks, but other than that round one was all Font.
Font opens up the second with a nasty combination ending in a left hook, and he picks up right where he left off in the first. This was a better round for Vera, who had the more varied attack, but Font put together a number of crisp combinations, a lot of punches of which landed cleanly.
Vera catches Font at the end of the second and has him hurt badly. The tides may have turned.
Font tries hard for a takedown to begin round three, but is unsuccessful and they’re back to striking range.
Though Font is still leading in the strike counts, this is by far the best round for Vera, aside from the end of the second. But, just as Vera ended the second by stunning Font, he did the same in the third, this time with a flying knee.
Vera was very close to securing the finish here, but we’re headed to a fourth.
Round four is much like the last two, the striking is leaning more in Vera’s way, and Vera hurts Font badly again.
Vera catches Font with a vicious side kick to the face that immediately dropped Font, and honestly, the referee could’ve stopped the fight right there. Font is becoming unrecognizable, but we’re headed into a fifth and final round.
The fifth round is very close in striking totals, but Vera lands that side kick to Font’s face and hurts him with it again, though Font remains on his feet this time. The final ten seconds run out immediately after the kick and it’d appear Marlon Vera certainly did enough to win the fight.
Vera was out-struck in total strikes, but dropped Font three times and had him hurt badly once more.
Just as many expected, Font started strong, as Vera is a slow starter, and Vera finished strong, as he just doesn’t tire and continues making adjustments throughout. It’s about time he was given a five round fight.
Marlon Vera is now 9-2 in his last 11 bouts, and he just defeated the no. 5 ranked contender tonight at UFC on ESPN 35. Who should he face next?
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