Marlon Vera is making significant changes in his training camp as he seeks to break a troubling losing streak in the UFC. The mixed martial artist, who holds a professional record of 23 wins, 11 losses, and 1 no contest (23-11-1 MMA, 15-11 UFC), has faced a tough run lately, losing four consecutive fights. His last victory came in August 2023, when he secured a unanimous decision against Pedro Munhoz, which earned him a title shot against Sean O'Malley at UFC 299.
However, the tide turned for Vera after he lost to O'Malley, leading to three more defeats, the latest being against the emerging bantamweight David Martinez at UFC Fight Night 268 in February. In light of these setbacks, Vera felt compelled to make a change and has decided to part ways with his long-time head coach, Jason Parillo.
Reflecting on his decision, Vera shared his thoughts during an appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show." He explained, "After the Mexico fight, we went back to training, and I was trying to figure out what I needed, what’s not getting me to win these close decisions. It was a hard decision because we didn’t have a problem or nothing bad happened. I was just (asking myself) what I could do moving forward to give myself a chance to kill this bad streak and get back into the winning column."
Vera emphasized the difficulty of making such a transition, especially when it involves someone he holds in high regard. He stated, "I just told myself I don’t want my career to go to the very end and then question if I should have made a change, because sometimes making changes is hard. You don’t want to tell people you love or who have a big spot in your heart, 'Hey, I’m going to move forward for now, and I’m going to see what I can do.' So it was a hard decision."
In his upcoming fight, Vera will face Charles Jourdain, who boasts a record of 18 wins, 8 losses, and 1 no contest (18-8-1 MMA, 9-7-1 UFC), at UFC 331 on September 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. In a bid to revitalize his career, Vera has teamed up with Raul Rosas Jr., a promising fighter on a five-fight winning streak who is preparing for his first UFC headliner against Raoni Barcelos on September 26. Vera noted, "We trained a little bit, and then eventually I just kind of like merged into Rosas' team. Now we use my gym as a headquarters for all of us."
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