Marlon Vera seeks to recapture form that saw him equal Conor McGregor’s record in UFC Mexico return

Alongside Brandon Moreno taking on late replacement Lone’er Kavanagh, the veteran Vera has also drawn a rising contender in the division when he faces David Martinez in the co-main event.

The former title challenger is in need of a big bounce-back win on February 28 after previously being one of the division’s most dangerous competitors, as one statistic shows.

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Marlon Vera and Conor McGregor both produced three knockdowns in back-to-back fights

Marlon Vera equalled a record set by Conor McGregor during the four-fight win streak where he was at his very best inside the Octagon.

After Vera knocked out Frankie Edgar in ruthless fashion, he went on to record two equally destructive wins over Rob Font and Dominick Cruz.

His devastating performances in the two final wins of that run are defined by the fact that he recorded three knockdowns in both outings.

‘The Notorious’ is the only other fighter in UFC history to have sent back-to-back opponents to the canvas three times.

Similarly to Vera, despite this, McGregor only stopped one of those two foes, going to a decision in his rematch with Nate Diaz before following that up with an all-time classic display against Eddie Alvarez.

If ‘Chito’ is going to halt the momentum of David Martinez this Saturday, he needs to find a way to recapture this incredibly dangerous version of himself.

Who is the dark horse of the bantamweight division?

Comment below who you think could go on to match the likes of Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili.

What has Marlon Vera done since equalling Conor McGregor’s record?

Marlon Vera’s four-fight win streak was ended by a one-sided loss to Cory Sandhagen back in 2023.

While a win over Pedro Munhoz earned him a title shot against Sean O’Malley, his defeat to ‘Suga’ has now built into a three-fight skid.

Vera did have his moments in a split decision loss to Aiemann Zahabi last October and knocked his opponent down but was outworked by the Canadian.

It’s no secret that the Ecuadorian isn’t the fastest starter or busiest fighter but he wasn’t able to capitalize on his moments of success to make up for this last time out.