This is the live blog for Marlon “Chito” Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi, the featured bantamweight fight at UFC Vancouver on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.
Vera joined the UFC in 2014 and, after a rocky start, quickly became a staple of the bantamweight division. Knockout wins over Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, plus a stoppage victory over Sean O’Malley, helped propel Chito to a title fight against O’Malley last year, which he lost badly. A loss to former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in his next fight left Vera reeling, but after a sizable layoff, Vera says he’s ready to get back to his winning ways on Saturday.
Brother of famed coach Firas Zahabi, Aiemann Zahabi is currently on the best run of his career, having rattled of six consecutive victories. Most recently, Zahabi won a unanimous decision over Jose Aldo, retiring the UFC legend and putting himself in the mix at 135 pounds.
Check out the live blog for Vera vs. Zahabi below.
Credit to Manon Fiorot who just dummied Jasmine Jasudavicius. Best she’s ever looked.
We keep rolling to a fight that could be fun, or Chito could do nothing for 15 minutes. You never know what you’ll get with a Chito fight. Let’s find out!
Zahabi comes out rocking red shorts and his usual, disinterested look. Man is very composed, always.
Chito cuts a different picture, toting the Ecuadorian flag, bouncing his way to the cage, and gets a good little pop here in Canada, despite fighting a Canadian. He’s in yellow shorts for this matchup.
Chito is 5 years younger, but everything else is about the same. Chito is a +105 underdog, with Zahabi coming in a -125.
Joe Martinez gets things going and this Vancouver crowd is lively. Chito getting a nice pop from them. Chito looking hyped for this one.
Jason Herzog is the referee and we’re off!
Chito out in orthodox, Zahabi in southpaw, but he switches stances quickly. Chito coming forward early and Zahabi lands a nice inside low kick. Vera feinting from the outside as the crowd starts a Za-Ha-Bi chant.
Zahabi moving around and away from the power side of Chito, but not putting much offense out. Chito throwing a few errant kicks. Slow, slow pace to start. Chito more active than usual, which is a good sign. Zahabi with another inside low kick. Vera lands a left hook. Single shots at a time from both men.
Vera steps in with a combination, he’s closing distance better now. Zahabi pushes him back and Vera lands a calf kick. Vera drawing Zahabi in and landing better here than when he was coming forward. But Zahabi is coming in strong and lands a left hand with Vera against the fence. Chito backs him out and snaps a few kicks into Zahabi. Nice elbow from Vera as Zahabi steps in. Zahabi pressuring in and lands a left.
60 seconds and anyone’s round. Nice left hook from Zahabi when Vera gets to the fence. Then Zahabi catches a kick and punches off it. Strong close to the round from Zahabi.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Zahabi.
Replay shows Vera during the round adjusting his finger. He may have dislocated it during the round.
Vera comes out kicking to start. This is better for him than the past few fights, but his corner wants even more. And Vera has taken that to heart, pressuring to start the round. Nice left hand from Vera around the guard. Zahabi rushes in and throws a knee but Vera catches it and punches him a few times as Zahabi peels away.
Zahabi throwing a hard lead hand out there now. Vera sitting down on hooks. Zahabi body kick. Both men are starting to throw more.
OH! Sharp jab sits Zahabi down! He rolls up to his feet but Vera is on the hunt now! Zahabi clearly a little hurt here, in full retreat, but he’s got enough wits about him to keep Vera away for now. Vera stalking but hasn’t landed anything.
Nevermind. NASTY body shot from Vera as Zahabi was moving away. Zahabi has not thrown a punch since he got dropped, just trying to move away and recover. And Vera is starting to get in the range to fire. Vera perhaps too patient, really waiting for the perfect moment. Zahabi showing a little more spring in his step, perhaps he’s recovered. But he still hasn’t punched. Now he starts but eats another jab.
Zahabi definitely back, he’s on the attack and lands some decent shots here as Vera backs up. Vera with a total lack of offense, which happens with him. Now he fires back as they get in close and the round ends.
And after the horn, Zahabi and Vera are nose to nose, staring each other down before Herzog separates them.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Vera, 19-19 overall.
Zahabi comes out with some pep in his step but Vera backs him up with a kick. Exchange of blows in the middle as Vera backs him up. Single shots from both men. Vera popping his jab out there.
Zahabi now coming forward and Chito is dancing? But not punching. OK. Classic Vera. Good body kick from Chito and pushes Zahabi back to the middle. Zahabi comes back in though. Some good work from Zahabi when he gets Chito to the fence. Vera doing so little, just throwing this fight away in classic Chito fashion.
Good left hand from Vera. When he does throw, it’s good. Zahabi’s nose is bloodied up now. Zahabi doing that weird, “move your body a lot for no reason” but lands a good body kick. Vera responds but eats a nice right hand. Vera is losing this round and this fight purely off activity. He’s got 90 seconds to claw this round back.
Both men kicking. Zahabi just putting volume out there and Vera is waiting. One of the most frustrating fighters in the UFC. And Zahabi keeps trying. That’s all it takes right now, because Chito simply won’t. Zahabi should run away for the last 30 seconds. He’s won this fight. Instead he steps in and eats a big left hand that buckles his knees! They stand and trade until the final horn.
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Zahabi, 29-28 Zahabi overall.
Aiemann Zahabi def. Marlon Vera via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Zahabi says he thought he won the first and third rounds. Then says he proved tonight that every time he steps in the cage, he leaves everything out there. He then says he wasn’t hurt that badly in the second round. Zahabi finishes by thanking the UFC officials, then calls for Sean O’Malley.
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