UFC Vegas 53 went down last night (Sat., April 30, 2022) from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada featuring a Bantamweight bout which saw Marlon Vera defeat Rob Font via unanimous decision (see it here). In the co-main event, Andrei Arlovski won his fourth straight fight by edging out Jake Collier via split decision.
Biggest Winner: Marlon Vera
Vera picked up his third straight win by putting on one of his best performances against Font, winning the standup battle against one of the best strikers in the division. The win should be good enough to put him into the Top 5, taking Font’s spot at No. 5. “Chito” improves to 9-2 over his last 11 fights, so he is proving to be one of the best 135-pounders in the game today. He also won some extra scratch thanks to a “Fight of the Night” bonus, as well as taking a percentage of Font’s fight purse after he came in heavy. It was a good couple of days for Vera, who can now expect an even bigger fight in his next outing.
Runner Up: Joanderson Brito
Brito got back in the win column in impressive and explosive fashion by knocking out longtime veteran, Andre Fili. Brito pulled off the upset by landing a huge right hand that dropped the Team Alpha Male-trained fighter. Immediately, Brito pounced on his wounded challenger and unleashed a fury of strikes via ground-and-pound to seal the deal. It was a great way for Brito to pick up his first UFC victory after he came up short in his debut against Bill Algeo. For his efforts, “Tubarao” also walked away with a $50,000 post fight bonus award.
Biggest Loser: Rob Font
After winning four straight from 2018 to 2021, earning himself in the spot in the Top 5, Font has now lost two in row following his unanimous decision defeat to Marlon Vera. Prior to that, Font was defeated by Jose Aldo. Not only has he suffered the first back-to-back losses of his career, he had to give up some of his earnings from the fight to Vera after he missed weight by 2.5 pounds. To make matters a bit worse, he was not able to win the $50,000 in post-fight bonus cash for winning “Fight of the Night” because a fighter who misses weight is not eligible to win any post-fight bonus award, per the UFC rule book. It wasn’t a good week for Font, who at one time was considered a legit title contender. Now he finds himself in a huge hole in a division that is filled with several contenders who will make it tough for him to get back in the mix.
For complete UFC Vegas 53: “Font vs. Vera” results and play-by-play, click HERE!