In the bantamweight feature bout at UFC Vegas 29, fifteenth-ranked Marlon “Chito” Vera will defend his ranking in a rematch against surging Englishman Davey Grant.

Marlon Vera vs. Davey Grant offers a fan-friendly rematch at UFC Vegas 29

Grant, 35, soundly outpointed Vera back in 2016. “Dangerous” earned a 10-8 for his third-round performance on all three judges’ scorecards en route to a 30-26 shutout. Since then, the two former Ultimate Fighter competitors have had largely different UFC runs.

After being submitted in back-to-back fights following the Vera (18-7-1 MMA, 10-6 UFC) win, Grant (11-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has put together an impressive run of three straight wins, the latter two by way of knockout. Grant stopped Martin Day (8-6) in the third round and Jonathan Martinez (13-4) in the second round in his 2020 and 2021 appearances, respectively. On the best stretch of his UFC tenure, he will earn a big opportunity against a far more prominent version of Vera.

“Chito, 28, rocketed to MMA fame in 2020 after scoring a TKO victory over fan-favorite “Suga” Sean O’Malley (13-1) in the co-main event of UFC 252. Prior to that fight, Vera had rattled off five wins in six fights, and all by finish.

Following the O’Malley win, Vera dropped a unanimous decision to fourth-ranked bantamweight, and featherweight great, Jose Aldo (29-7).

In the first fight of his 2021 campaign, Vera will seek to return to the win column against Grant in a fight to retain his spot in the rankings.

–Field Level Media