Marlon 'Chito' Vera impressed in his first headlining bout in the UFC with a victory over Rob Font. The bantamweight standouts clashed in an action-packed main event bout at Fight Night: Font vs. Vera on Saturday at the promotion's Apex Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Vera was outlanded by Font statistically speaking. The Bostonian landed more than 271 significant strikes, while the Ecuadorian only connected with 159. However, Vera evidently got the better of the exchanges as he reduced Font to a bloody, unrecognizable mess by the end of the fight.
Ultimately, the judges sided with Vera's quality of strikes over Font's quantity of output. 'Chito' earned the unanimous decision nod with scores of 48-47, 49-46, 49-46.
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In the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski edged Jake Collier after three competitive rounds. In doing so, the 43-year-old tied Jim Miller's record for most wins (23) in the UFC.
Joanderson Brito made a massive statement with his technical knockout victory over Andre Fili. The Brazilian only needed 40 seconds to finish his opponent off, earning his first finish under the UFC banner.
Grant Dawson also scored an impressive win over Jared Gordon in the lightweight division. The Nebraskan outgrappled Gordon in all three rounds, before eventually making him tap out in the dying seconds of the bout.
Veteran Darren Elkins is back in the win column after outperforming Tristan Connelly. 'The Damage' won via unanimous decision after three rounds.
Finally, a middleweight showdown between Gerald Meerschaert and Krzysztof Jotko kicked off the main card. Jotko dominated his opponent to earn a lopsided decision win.
UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Vera full card results
Main Card
Marlon Vera def. Rob Font via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Andrei Arlovski def. Jake Collier via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Joanderson Brito def. Andre Fili via TKO (0:41 of Round 1)
Grant Dawson def. Jared Gordon via submission [rear-naked choke] - (4:11 of Round 3)
Darren Elkins def. Tristan Connelly via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Krzysztof Jotko def. Gerald Meerschaert via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Alexandr Romanov def. Chase Sherman via submission [Americana] - (2:11 of Round 1)
Francisco Figueiredo def. Daniel da Silva via submission [kneebar] - (1:18 of Round 1)
Gabriel Green def. Yohan Lainesse via TKO - (4:02 of Round 2)
Natan Levy def. Mike Breeden via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Shanna Young def. Gina Mazany via TKO (3:11 of Round 2)