BREAKING: Marlon 'Chito' Vera learns next opponent at UFC 292 after Henry Cejudo pulls out
Despite losing his last fight to Cory Sandhagen, Marlon 'Chito' Vera is still widely recognised as one of the UFC’s top bantamweights.
The No.6 ranked 135lber was set to attempt to rebound from his loss to ‘The Sandman’ at UFC 292, where he was initially matched with former champ Henry Cejudo.
However, this week saw the announcement that ‘Triple C’ was out of the fight, with the 2008 Olympic gold medalist blaming a serious shoulder injury for his withdrawal.
Some important news...
Unfortunately, I won't be able to compete on Aug 19 at UFC 292. I have a tear in my right shoulder that requires rehab.
I wish I could've got in there w/ Chito, but I won't be able to make a full recovery in time.
@jimmybars
📽️: youtu.be/_qDm_x4OyRA https://t.co/06ZEoKE7b4
Thankfully for Marlon 'Chito' Vera, it hasn’t taken the UFC long to source a new opponent for him. It was announced by reporter Marcel Dorff on Twitter today that ‘Chito’ will now face off with Pedro Munhoz at the Boston-based event instead.
H.Cejudo out. Marlon Vera will now fight Pedro Munhoz at #UFC292 on August 19th. (first rep. @TeamIridiumISA) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 #UFCBoston https://t.co/VAYKdpFZU2
‘The Young Punisher’ is ranked at No.10 in the division and recently stopped the rise of hot prospect Chris Gutierrez, picking up his first win since 2021 in the process.
Considering Vera holds wins over two fighters who recently beat Munhoz in the form of Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, he’ll come into this one as the big favorite.
Marlon 'Chito' Vera vs. Henry Cejudo canceled: Who did Vera call out instead?
Following Henry Cejudo’s withdrawal from UFC 292, Marlon 'Chito' Vera has now been matched with Pedro Munhoz at the event.
Munhoz is still a top-10 ranked fighter, but it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have the high profile of ‘Triple C’, who recently claimed that he hadn’t in fact signed the contract to fight Vera anyway.
Prior to the announcement that he’d be facing ‘The Young Punisher’, though, it sounded like Vera had set his eyes on a different opponent.
Earlier this week, the Ecuadorian took to Twitter to call out former titleholder Petr Yan in blunt fashion, stating the following simple message.
“Yan step up.”
Yan step up
With ‘No Mercy’ coming off three straight losses, it’s likely the UFC will want to rehabilitate him before throwing him into another major bout.