"Nothing I can do if I have a flat fighter" - Marlon Vera reveals how his coach was struggling with his performance against Cory Sandhagen

Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen faced off in the main event of UFC San Antonio on March 25. The bantamweight matchup was eagerly anticipated, with fans expecting to see a superb display of striking from both men.

However, once the fight began, it was evident that Vera was having difficulty finding his rhythm. 'Chito' is a notoriously slow-starter during fights, but he was unable to get himself into 'fight mode' at all against Sandhagen.

In-between rounds, Marlon Vera's longtime coach Jason Parillo was visibly frustrated with his student's apathetic demeanour against Cory Sandhagen.

'Chito' has now shed light on Parillo's stuggles with getting his fighter fired up, and said this during a recent interview with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith:

"I fought my a** off and kept trying. But even my coach knew, he was frustrated but he was like, 'There's nothing I can do if I have a flat fighter right now.' No one can do anything. That's when I just decided to dig deep and try a little harder but I wasn't able [to]. I own it, it's on me."

Watch the interview below from 1:08:30:

The UFC San Antonio main event went all five rounds, and many expected Cory Sandhagen to win the contest via unanimous decision. But judge Joel Ojeda remarkably awarded Marlon Vera the fight 48-47, leading to massive speculation about Ojeda's status as an MMA judge.

Sandhagen appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience several weeks after his fight against 'Chito', during which he shared an interesting theory about Ojeda's decision.

Marlon Vera is scheduled to face former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo next. The bout is featuring on the same card as the bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley, set to headline UFC 292.

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Marlon Vera explains why he refuses to turn down any fights

Marlon Vera will be facing Henry Cejudo at UFC 292 despite coming off of a loss against Cory Sandhagen several months ago.

'The Sandman' is scheduled to face surging contender Umar Nurmagomedov next, who is currently ranked at No.11 in the division compared to Sandhagen's No. 4 ranking.

Vera recently appeared on the Believe You Me podcast hosted by Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith, where he shared praise for Sandhagen's decision to accept a fight against Nurmagomedov.

'Chito' explained what separates fighters such as himself and Sandhagen from everyone else, saying this:

"Props to [Cory] for that because I have the same mindset... my dream was never to be undefeated at 50-0 or 60-0. My dream was to be a champion in the UFC, and if I've got to take a couple of L's to get there. Ay props to Michael Bisping for becoming a champion like that..."