Marlon “Chito” Vera was happy to celebrate his win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 268 but he didn’t really feel the need to dance on his opponent’s grave afterwards.
As part of the images captured from the fight on Saturday night, one particular photo caught the exact moment when Vera’s front kick connected with Edgar’s jaw, which showed the distorted look on the former UFC lightweight champion’s face from the impact.
While those action type of images have become a staple of combat sports over the years, Vera wasn’t particularly a fan, especially because of the respect he shared for Edgar in their fight.
“It’s a f*cked up picture,” Vera said during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “I don’t post it. It’s f*cked up. I put it like this — it’s him or me. I always talk like this, it’s my family that I’ve got to bring the bread home against your family. I’m sorry. F*ck you for that. I’m going to do everything to do for my family, for my loved ones. We’re fighting for that. We’re fighting for a better future, for everything at home.
“But it’s a f*cked up picture. I don’t post that picture. Everybody’s tagging me. I don’t think even in the stories, I don’t even want to reply. The guy still has a family, the guy still has a life and that was Saturday night.”
Vera admits if he was on the wrong end of one of those photos that he personally wouldn’t care if somebody posted that on social media but he just didn’t have any desire to do that where Edgar was concerned after their fight ended.
“It’s almost like if I post it, I feel like it’s a little disrespectful,” Vera explained. “If that’s me at the end of the rope and the guy posts it, I don’t really care. I’ve got thick skin. I’m a loser, I’ve got to get better and figure it out. But I wouldn’t do it.”
Another reason why Vera didn’t really see a need to post a photo celebrating his win was largely due to the moment already passing after he left the octagon at UFC 268.
While he considers the win over Edgar as the biggest of his career so far, Vera was quick to move past the fight because he gains nothing for the future by dwelling in the past.
“Saturday night was special. It will be in my heart forever but I don’t live for that memory,” Vera said. “Those three minutes of fame that you’re cool, a lot of people make that mistake and then they go downhill because they think they will be in that position forever. The fight’s gone.
“Monday morning came, I’m back on the horse. My mind is already thinking ahead. I’m going to fight somebody else, this fight doesn’t matter. I’m already thinking of what’s coming.”
Vera did share a moment with Edgar in the octagon following his knockout win because he wanted to apologize after flipping him the middle finger at the end of a round.
According to Vera, the obscene gesture originated because of a tense moment shared with Edgar after an exchange on the feet just before the horn sounded. With Edgar staring back at him, Vera felt like he needed to show the New Jersey native that he wasn’t intimidated or going anywhere until the fight was finished.
“Those are mind games,” Vera said. “We were fighting. We are in a fist fight. We’re not playing any games. So I was like in that period of time, I was thinking if I look down and walk away, he’s going to be like ‘he’s weak, he gave up in this little exchange’ and I’m like that’s not me. I’m going to face fire with fire and I don’t mind getting in there. That was it.
“I went straight to him [after the fight], grabbed him by the face and I’m like hey man, I didn’t mean to disrespect you. It’s just fighting, we’re being mean to each other. We’re trying to f*ck up each other. I’m like I respect you, who you are, how you handle yourself and I’m sorry again. I’m not that person. I don’t handle myself like that. I want to say I’m sorry and thanks for the opportunity. He congratulated me and we hugged it out. He’s a gentleman.”
With back-to-back wins now on his record, Vera is once again looking to take another step forward in his career as he continues to pursue a shot at the UFC bantamweight title.
Despite his fight just happening a couple of days ago, Vera is already looking at the UFC rankings to see who’s ahead of him and who might be available within a reasonable amount of time so he can compete again.
“Literally, how the situation is, there’s only two guys ahead or that are free, which are Merab [Dvalishvili] and [Cory] Sandhagen,” Vera said. “I can fight any of those two tomorrow.”
Sandhagen is just removed from a five-round war with Petr Yan in an interim bantamweight title fight at UFC 267 so it’s tough to tell when he’ll be ready to compete again.
As for Dvalishvili, he’s quickly become one of the most talked about fighters competing at 135 pounds, especially after he engaged in a back-and-forth battle with former title contender Marlon Moraes before earning a second round TKO victory.
With seven wins in a row on his resume and a wrestling heavy style that many opponents might try and avoid, Dvalishvili hasn’t heard his name called many times by other fighters in his division.
Vera is more than happy to join that list.
“He’s a wrestler,” Vera said about Dvalishvili. “I would be more scared if he was an Anthony Johnson type of f*cking guy. Anthony Johnson touch you, you don’t grow a beard. He’s a bad motherf*cker but I understand that. We all are.”