Iowan
UFC fans will be treated to some great bantamweight action this
May.
The news first coming from social media user TuckTalksMMA
on Friday, Marlon Vera
(23-10-1) and Mario
Bautista (15-2) will throw down in Des Moines on May 3. The
top-ranked 135ers will compete inside of the Wells Fargo Arena,
where they will serve as the co-main attraction to Cory
Sandhagen vs. Deiveson
Figueiredo. The pairing at this current unnumbered
UFC Fight Night show has since been confirmed by Bautista on
Instagram.
2024 was a tough year for Vera, who did vie for the bantamweight
strap but could not win it. After coming up short in his rematch to
Sean
O’Malley, Vera went on to drop a decision to Figueiredo. Before
those setbacks—just his second career losing streak—“Chito” had
beaten names like Frankie
Edgar, Rob Font and
Pedro
Munhoz to keep himself anchored among the elite of the
135-pound ranks.
While Vera has struggled as of late, Bautista comes into this
battle with plenty of momentum behind him. 2024 proved to be a
banner year for the MMA Lab export, as he picked up wins on the
scorecards over Ricky Simon
and Jose
Aldo to vault himself into the rankings. Winner of seven
straight, Bautista has not tasted defeat since Trevin
Jones punched him out in 2021.
UFC Des Moines, an event still with no numbered designation, will
go down at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on May 3. Beyond
Sandhagen-Figueiredo and Vera-Bautista, the UFC has added an
additional high-stakes bantamweight scrap to the event as Yana Santos
collides with Miesha Tate.
Additionally, Marina
Rodriguez will face Gillian
Robertson at 115 pounds, while Daniel
Rodriguez and Santiago
Ponzinibbio will brawl it out in a potential welterweight
thriller.