Fighter On Fighter! Breaking Down ‘Chito!’

Ecuador’s finest fighter, Marlon Vera, will collide with top-ranked boxer, Rob Font, this Saturday (April 30, 2022) at UFC Vegas 53 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Vera is a unique case among Bantamweight contenders. After all, “Chito” hasn’t always been good! He didn’t come into UFC as a fully-formed athlete. The younger Vera had numerous weaknesses, but he did possess the same finishing instinct and opportunistic nature that Vera retains as a Top 10 Bantamweight. His technical and tactical growth over the years have been a ton of fun to watch, and Vera now seems ready to make his run toward title contention.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Earlier in his career, Vera was a Muay Thai striker with a nice left kick. Under the watchful eye of Jason Parillo, Vera’s hands have come a tremendously long way, and he’s one of the best in the sport at damaging opponents with punches, kicks, knees and elbows alike.

Though Vera has consistently been improving since joining UFC’s roster in 2014, there’s a clear point where things changed for “Chito.” Three years into his UFC career, Vera suffered consecutive defeats for the first and only time in his professional career, getting bullied by both John Lineker and Douglas Silva de Andrade en route to decision losses.

Since those defeats, Vera has won eight of 10 with seven stoppage wins. More important, he’s adapted a pressure fighter style, seemingly in response to those defeats. After all, Vera cannot get backed into the cage and beaten up if he’s the one walking down his opponent down. Add in the fact that Vera consistently targets his opponent’s body, and he’s an exhausting man to fight who commonly picks up steam as fights wear on.

Vera’s distance and body work begin with his kicks. Primarily a Southpaw, Vera actually does great work with both legs. The classic Southpaw left kick to the open side is naturally a big weapon for him. “Chito” kicks powerfully and with good form, meaning a minimal amount of setup (i.e. a quick feint or slap of the lead hand) is all that’s required to let it rip to the liver or skull (GIF).

That’s pretty standard stuff for a Southpaw, but Vera’s front kick/teep is more unique. Vera really likes to stab his right toes straight into the gut, either as a lead leg teep or more powerful rear leg stab from Orthodox. Often, Vera will double up on the strike, poking his foe in the belly twice to interrupt any would-be counter punches (GIF).

Vera builds off his teep well (GIF). He’ll march his knees, showing one teep then throwing the other after closing a step of distance. Or, he’ll step forward after the teep, closing range into the pocket with punches or crashing into the clinch (more on that in a moment).

The biggest technical improvements to Vera’s game have come in regards to his boxing. At this stage of his career, Vera fights as much from the Orthodox stance as he does in Southpaw, which opens up different offensive options. For example, Vera has really done great work with the jab and right calf kick combination, ripping up his opponent’s lead leg.

Vera’s left jab is a great punch. Since that his dominant hand, Vera’s jab carries real pop and has dropped more than one opponent. Vera will also hook off the jab, and he uses the punch to set up body shots well. Against an opponent covering up along the cage — which will happen at some point given Vera’s relentless pressure — Vera does excellent work in slapping a punch high before slipping over and ripping the liver with a left hook. From either stance, the cross to the mid-section is a big weapon for Vera as well.

Finally, Vera is spectacularly violent in the clinch. The Ecuadorian athlete does well in transitioning directly from punches to wrapping up control of his opponent’s head while they attempt to retreat, allowing him to get in a free shot or two. Attacking with both knees and elbows ruthlessly, Vera makes it difficult for his opponent to tie up all his potential weapons.

An important element of Vera’s clinch attack is just how well he angles his strikes. Knees to the body can be throwaway shots that kind of glance off or fight-finishers, and Vera accomplishes the ladder by really turning his hips and leading with the point of the knee. Against Davey Grant, Vera showed off a rare diversity in elbow strikes by angling up the middle and carving his opponent up (GIF).

Wrestling

Early on, wrestling Vera to victory was a very viable path to victory. Nowadays, it’s much more difficult.

Admittedly, Vera is not impossible to take down by any measure. He stands a bit tall, throws lots of kicks, and pressures heavily — none of those elements are great for takedown defense. Fortunately, Vera’s commitment to body work helps nullify these disadvantages, as no one wants to shoot directly through a teep kick. In short, Vera can be taken down with a well-timed entry to his hips, but anything less than that is unlikely to work.

Offensively, Vera likes to work from the clinch. Often, these trip attempts come after long exchanges of elbows, knees, and pressure in the clinch. Suddenly, Vera will switch his focus to squeezing the body lock and tying up a leg. A simple enough technique on its own, but one made more effective by this mix of tactics.

A final note: Vera is absolutely nasty with punches (GIF) and elbows (GIF) from top position.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

A jiu-jitsu black belt, Vera has eight wins via submission and many tricks up his sleeves.

Vera has long been quite active from his back. He’s always throwing up his legs in pursuit of armbars and triangles, which is how he picked up his first UFC victory. Opposite Roman Salazar, Vera used the classic triangle setup of jamming an arm between his legs to isolate Salazar’s head and arm. Right away, Vera unleashed a torrent of elbows, which made it easier to secure the ideal angle and attack the arm (GIF).

When opponents try to wrestle, Vera is quick to turn to his jiu-jitsu as a means of takedown defense. He’s attacked with the guillotine and d’arce choke, but his kimura-turned-armbar victory over Brian Kelleher was particularly sweet.

As Kelleher attacked a single-leg takedown (and later high-crotch), Vera tied up his opponent’s arm in the figure four grip. Kelleher decided to complete the trip anyway into top position, but Vera immediately cranked on his shoulder and knocked him off-balance. Without Kelleher’s weight holding him in place, Vera was able to quickly rotate his hips and throw his legs into Kelleher’s face. Extending his hips right away, Vera forced the finish immediately (GIF).

Vera also has a pair of rear naked choke wins inside the Octagon, and his setup here is pretty simple: stun his opponent with strikes first! When “Chito” has an opponent hurt, he’s quite happy to jump the back and sink in a choke if his opponent turns away or takes a bad shot.

Conclusion

Marlon Vera is a violence-first fighter, one of the best finishers at 135-pounds. He’s a ton of fun to watch and has come a long way, but it remains to be seen if “Chito” has what it takes to break into the Top 5.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.

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