Marlon Vera will have an opportunity to make a huge leap in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings when he faces Jimmie Rivera at UFC 247, as reported by MMA Junkie over the weekend.
At the moment, Jimmie Rivera is ranked seven spots ahead of Marlon Vera at #7, but Vera has won five straight while Rivera has lost two in a row. Rivera will now have an opportunity to justify the seven-spot differential between himself and Vera when the two meet in Houston, Texas on February 8th.
Rivera’s two losses came to Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, two top contenders at 135 and two losses not to hang one’s head over. At one point, Rivera had a 20-fight winning streak in his career, a number that dwarfs Vera’s current streak of five. However, Rivera had a five-fight winning streak in the UFC, just like Vera, and will look to create another commonality between himself and Vera by stopping that streak at that figure.
Marlon Vera is a five-year UFC veteran despite the fact that “Chito” is only 26 years old. Vera seems to be coming into his own now, as his aforementioned five-fight winning streak would illustrate. Most recently, Vera defeated Andre Ewell via TKO at UFC Tampa. Vera has been very active in 2019, with wins over Ewell, Hernandez, and Saenz, and will have an opportunity to go 4-0 while also skyrocketed up the bantamweight ranks in the process should he defeat Jimmie Rivera.
UFC 247 takes place Saturday, February 8 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The current UFC 247 lineup includes:
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Bout Jon Jones © vs. Dominick Reyes
UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship Bout: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Ilir Latifi vs. Derrick Lewis
Jimmie Rivera vs. Marlon Vera
Mirsad Bektic vs. Dan Ige
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ryan Spann
Andrea Lee vs. Lauren Murphy
Juan Adams vs. Justin Tafa
Dhiego Lima vs. Alex Morono
Who do you predict to win this bantamweight clash between Jimmie Rivera and
Marlon Vera?
