Marlon Vera wants to fight Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz or Jimmie Rivera before the end of 2020

Marlon Vera is coming off one of the biggest wins of his professional MMA career, having become the first fighter to defeat the highly touted UFC Bantamweight prospect, Sean O’Malley.

Vera faced O’Malley in August of this year and attacked the latter with a disciplined striking strategy that included well-timed and excellently placed leg kicks.

O’Malley’s legs bore the brunt of the damage inflicted by Vera’s strikes. That, coupled with Sugar stepping awkwardly on his ankle, resulted in him suffering a leg injury in the very first round of the fight.

Vera recognized the fact that O’Malley had been compromised by the leg injury and unleashed a barrage of strikes on his foe, finishing him via TKO in round one.

Marlon Vera aims to fight Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, or Jimmie Rivera before 2020 ends

Needless to say, after defeating a formerly undefeated Bantamweight star such as Sean O’Malley, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera has a considerable amount of momentum on his side.

Speaking to Hablemos MMA (courtesy MMA Junkie), Vera addressed his current standing in the division as well as his future plans.

Vera asserted that he is simply waiting for UFC to offer him a fight, adding that he aims to fight in November or December of this year. Additionally, Vera explained that he doesn’t want to wait any longer than that.

“I’m just waiting for the UFC call, but I want to fight sometime in November, the latest December.”

“I don’t want it to go any longer than that. I’m ready. I’m prepared. I want to fight, make money, move up the rankings and keep at it.”

Furthermore, Vera emphasized that the Bantamweight division is interesting and keeps improving over time.

Marlon Vera also said that he really wants to fight one of Dominick Cruz, Jimmie Rivero, or Jose Aldo next.

“I would like to fight against Dominick (Cruz), Jimmie Rivera or Jose Aldo. I think one of those three is the fight that makes sense for me and would do me well.” (H/T MMAJunkie for the quotes)

Vera added that he’s eager to see which fights the UFC is offering him, but matching him up against one of these three fighters would be ideal.

Chito then went on to say that he doesn’t see any fighter holding the UFC Bantamweight Title for long and that Petr Yan will likely lose his belt soon.

Marlon Vera continued that he believes Yan is a tough fighter who wins fights by his toughness, but he doesn’t think the current Bantamweight Champion has a great mind. The talented Ecuadorian MMA fighter noted, that this is simply his opinion and it’s entirely possible that he could get knocked out by Yan if they fight in the future.

Nevertheless, Vera expounded that Yan has merely one way of fighting which is to defend takedowns well, move forward, and attack his opponent.

Marlon Vera also pointed out that Yan has great cardio. However, a fighter with a good strategy and more creativity than the Russian fighter could beat him.

Will Marlon Vera run a rematch with Sean O’Malley?

It’s most definitely within the realm of possibility for UFC to book Marlon Vera in a rematch against Sean O’Malley.

Their first fight ended owing to O’Malley suffering a leg injury. Although Marlon Vera’s leg kicks potentially contributed towards causing the injury, certain sections of the MMA community believe that the duo needs to fight it out once more to settle the score once and for all.

Who’d you like to see Marlon Vera face next? Sound off in the comments.