Marlon 'Chito' Vera ready to "go to the basement and pull all the demons" in effort to stop Deiveson Figueiredo's title-march at bantamweight
Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon 'Chito' Vera is bound for a slugfest for the ages against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC on ABC in Abu Dhabi. The August fight card will have 'Chito' to stop the ascent of the former UFC flyweight kingpin at bantamweight - the weight class the Ecuadorian called home since 2017.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, Marlon 'Chito' Vera said of his next opponent:
"I'm gonna focus on [Deiveson] Figueiredo. I know that's a big challenge. I'm taking this just as serious as I was taking the title fight - all the fights before... and if I have to dig deep and f*cking go to the basement and pull all the demons, we’ll f*cking bring them."
Watch the full clip of the statement here, as posted by MMA Fighting on X:
Marlon 'Chito' Vera not taking Deiveson Figueiredo lightly
Speaking further on his upcoming foe, Marlon 'Chito' Vera is leaving no stone unturned as he is well aware of the dangers 'Deus de Guerra' poses inside the Octagon.
He told Ariel Helwani (via MMA Fighting):
"I feel like it's a dangerous fight. That's [Figueiredo], a guy who's been a world champion... he fought for the belt many times. He fought big names and he's undefeated in my weight class [bantamweight]. He beat a guy that I beat [Rob Font], he beat a former champion [Cody] Garbrandt. I know he's a guy not to take lightly."
He continued:
"I can say whatever I want. I can be a d*ck. But I know this is gonna be a fight that I will have to fight. I mean, you know this about me. I'm not taking it easy. I'm not chilling right now. I'm going 4x4. I really want to get in there and make this guy f****ng suffer and I just want to get on top with a win, and figure out how to get into the title conversation. The best way to do that is go to Abu Dhabi and rip this man apart."
UFC on ABC 7: Sanhagen vs Nurmagomedov takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on August 3. The main event would possibly have a title shot on the line as Cory Sandhagen goes against undefeated Russian mauler Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin of undefeated former UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov.