"Not stepping up" - Marlon 'Chito' Vera says UFC told him that Petr Yan is declining their fight

Marlon 'Chito' Vera recently stated that Petr Yan has turned down a fight against him.

'Chito' and Yan have in the recent past, expressed an interest in competing against each other. However, Vera has claimed that the Russian fighter has refused to fight him in the past.

'Chito's' remarks received a furious reply from Yan, who proclaimed that Vera would never have reached a title shot if they fought before.

In a recent post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, 'Chito' doubled down on his stance and wrote:

"UFC saying that [Petr] Yan ain't gonna fight. Easy to bark when you know you not stepping up."

Yan and Vera have both seen mixed success over the last few years. While 'Chito' has lost to Sean O'Malley and Cory Sandhagen in recent outings, Yan experienced a more steep decline.

The Russian fighter entered the UFC as one of the most highly touted contenders and even went on to become the bantamweight champion. However, his career hit a rough patch and Yan has gone on to be 1-4 in his last five fights.

On the recent UFC 299 card, Yan got back in the win column with a win over rising contender Song Yadong. He suffered an ACL rupture, meniscus tear and groin injury during the fight, which required surgery. The recovery process will likely keep him out of action for some time.

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Petr Yan takes a stinging jab at Marlon 'Chito' Vera's recent loss against Sean O'Malley

Marlon 'Chito' Vera handed current UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley the only loss of his professional MMA career in 2020. Their rematch, however, was a completely different affair as 'Sugar' outclassed the Ecuadorian fighter at UFC 299, and took home the unanimous decision win.

During their aforementioned online scuffle, Vera challenged Petr Yan to "show up" for a fight. While replying to the callout, Yan made a scathing reference to Vera's lopsided loss against O'Malley and wrote:

"Keep lying to yourself that someone can refuse to fight a walking punching bag. #easymoney"

'Chito' has expressed his desire to fight Yan at the iconic Madison Square Garden in November. Given the nature of Yan's injuries, however, the timeline of his return is unknown at the moment.