Marlon Vera is now tied with Jon Jones for impressive UFC record, despite coming up short against Sean O’Malley
Jon Jones holds a plethora of UFC records, but the two-division champion now finds himself in the company of Marlon Vera on one statistic, following the conclusion of UFC 299 on Mar. 9.
Vera faced Sean O'Malley in the pay-per-view's main event, with the bantamweight title on the line. 'Sugar' delivered a masterful performance as he dominated his opponent for all five rounds en route to a unanimous decision win.
'Chito' absorbed a staggering amount of damage in his bid to become a UFC champion, and despite O'Malley being one of the division's hardest hitters, Vera did not hit the canvas once.
The Ecuadorian has never been finished in his career, and following his defeat to 'Sugar', he now equals 'Bones' for the most UFC fights without being finished. Journalist Marc Raimondi took to X following the event's conclusion to share the following:
"Chito Vera is tied for the most fights in the UFC without being finished, with Jon Jones (23)."
See the post below:
When will Jon Jones fight again?
Jon Jones is widely considered to be the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time, having dominated the sport since becoming UFC champion at 23 years old, in 2011.
'Bones' has one defeat on his record, which stands at 27-1-1, a disqualification against Matt Hamill. But UFC CEO Dana White himself has disregarded the loss due to its controversial nature.
After reigning supreme over the light heavyweight division from 2011 until he relinquished the belt in 2020, Jones announced his move to heavyweight. After spending the necessary time bulking up in preparation for his new weight class, Jones made his divisional debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in 2023.
The American stunned those who watched as he submitted his opponent within a minute of Round 1, signaling his arrival at heavyweight.
'Bones' was then scheduled to meet Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, but disaster struck for the champion a month before the fight as he tore his pectoral muscle and tendon.
Watch Jon Jones discuss the injury below:
An interim heavyweight title fight was scheduled in the place of Jones vs. Miocic for the pay-per-view card, with Tom Aspinall knocking out Sergei Pavlovich to win the belt.
With Aspinall eager to unify the title, he has called out both Jones and Miocic. But UFC CEO Dana White has remained steadfast that 'Bones' will face the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time, upon the champion's return from injury.