"If you give me graffiti, I'd probably draw a d**k in somebody's house" - Marlon Vera talks about violence, jail, and street fights as a youngster

Marlon Vera had a bit of a rebellious youth before he found martial arts.

Speaking with Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports, Vera touched on a myriad of topics, including his upcoming UFC Fight Night main event bout versus Dominick Cruz, the looming Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley fight, and more.

While discussing how his parents felt about him fighting in the streets and later inside a cage, Vera said:

"That early on... [my family] thought I was just finding an excuse to [not] go to college. They just thought I was just f****** around and using fighting as kind of, like, an excuse to just be a f****** problem. Because I was bringing a lot of problems to the house. I was like fight, going to yell, break things."

Marlon Vera continued:

"I wasn't the type of kid that would steal or do kind of like dumb s*** like that. But you know, if you give me graffiti, I'd probably draw a d**k in somebody's house. I had too much energy. Growing up trying to do f****** up things for fun that when I look back, I say, 'Well this was not fun. If my kid do that, I would probably be very mad.'"

Vera is the No.5-ranked bantamweight contender in the company, while Cruz is the No.8-ranked 135 pounder in the promotion.

Watch the interview/ video below:

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Marlon Vera's UFC tenure

Vera has an overall mixed martial arts record of twenty-one wins, seven losses, and one draw. He is riding a three-fight winning streak and has collected performance bonuses across all of those efforts. Curiously enough, 'Chito' is far more seasoned in the octagon in terms of total UFC bouts than the former two-time UFC champion Dominick Cruz.

'Chito' first put himself on the radar of UFC's fan base with his participation in season one of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America. He made his official octagon debut by falling short to Marco Beltran via unanimous decision at UFC 180 in November 2014.

His fight with Cruz marks the sophomore bout of the calendar year for Vera, who previously defeated Rob Font via unanimous decision in another UFC Fight Night main event this past April.

Watch the full Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera fight below: