Marlon Vera wishes he could’ve rematched Jose Aldo, says loss ‘made me a f*****g monster’
Marlon Vera was sad to see Jose Aldo retire as he wanted to run things back with the Brazilian.
Vera and Aldo fought in December of 2020 with the Brazilian winning a three-round decision in a very close and competitive fight. Since then, Vera has rallied off four straight wins with victories over Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, Rob Font, and Dominick Cruz to be in title contention. However, with Aldo recently announcing his retirement, he says he wishes he got the rematch as he wanted to beat the former UFC and WEC champ.
Although losing to Aldo was tough, Vera does credit the Brazilian as he says he has become a monster since the loss.
.@chitoveraufc congratulations Jose Aldo on his career and thanks him for lessons learnt from their fight:
"that lesson made me a fucking monster. Made me harder on myself, made me be smart, made me be just better. So, thanks for that"
🎥: https://t.co/AnkzvkZIFK pic.twitter.com/8GPiR0QZB8
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) September 22, 2022
“As an opponent, it was a close fight. I definitely was bitter for a long time, just because how I lost. I felt I could just do better. But you know, I took it like a man, I took it in on the chin. I blame it on me because it was my fault why I lost that fight. But that’s not either here or there, and he taught me a big lesson. I never, almost like, took it easy,” Vera said to Submission Radio. “Because I did take it easy in the third, fourth round, (I thought), ‘This guy is done. I’m gonna f*ck him up.’ And I unfocused and I paid the price. But that lesson made me a f*****g monster. (It) made me harder on myself, made me be smart, made me be just better. So thanks for that. I was hoping to rematch him and just f*****g destroy him, but that didn’t happen and it’s not gonna happen.
“So, I’m not the type of person that holds on to anything. I’m just ready to go. I learned from it and I definitely, definitely improved from it. I’m really happy he retired, because he wasn’t really hanging with the younger guys,” Vera continued. “He was about to just get him f*cked up, over and over and over. And he’s retiring on top, basically. Good for him. He’s being smart about his career. Why get in there with younger guys and lose a bunch of times? I believe he retired just in perfect time. So, good for him.”
Marlon Vera, as mentioned, is coming off the KO win over Dominick Cruz back in August in the main event of UFC San Diego. He does not have his next fight booked but he could be fighting for UFC gold next time out, which he says the loss to Aldo is a big reason why.
