Who is next for Marlon Vera after dominant victory over Rob Font?
After Marlon Vera's unanimous decision victory over Rob Font at UFC Fight Night on Saturday, Planet Sport looks at who could be next for the Ecuadorian.
Jose Aldo
In all honesty, this is the fight that makes the most sense for the UFC to book.
Currently in the top five in 135lbs rankings, only two men can really lay claim to be the next in line for the title shot; former featherweight champion Jose Aldo, and two-time bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, with both Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan having losses to the current champion Aljamain Sterling.
Aldo is currently on a three fight winning streak of his own, which includes a win over Vera back in December. This hasn't stopped Vera calling out for the rematch though.
In his post-fight press conference, he demanded a five round bout rematch with Aldo.
With the UFC now looking to go back on the road more, Aldo vs Vera II would be the perfect main event for a Fight Night card in Brazil; putting a home crowd favourite in Aldo in the main event, while the fight serves perfectly as a title eliminator.
Hard work pays off đź’Ş
— UFC (@ufc) May 1, 2022
[ @ChitoVeraUFC | #UFCVegas53 ] pic.twitter.com/9MA8sKiFhb
TJ Dillashaw
Cory Sandhagen
Sandhagen has cemented a spot as a fan favourite in the bantamweight rankings. He put on an epic fight with TJ Dillashaw, earned a KO of the Year nomination for his flying knee stoppage over Frankie Edgar and his spinning heel kick knockout against Marlon Moraes will forever be played in his highlight reel.
Bringing in the sandstorm with that spinning heel kick! 🌪️💥The Sandman, Cory Sandhagen 👀#UFCVegas32 pic.twitter.com/kGEJBPprLj
— UFC India (@UFCIndia) July 21, 2021
Sean O'Malley
When looking at the rankings, this isn't the most logical fight for Vera, but if you look at it from the narrative side, it is possibly one of the best stories the UFC can sell fans on right now.
Vera is the only man in the UFC to have beaten O'Malley, who is one of the promotion's most bankable young stars. The marketing is simple, promote this as O'Malley wanting redemption over Vera after the 21-7-1 fighter knocked him out in 2020.
Merab Dvalishvili
On top of this, Dvalishvili has earnt an opportunity to climb the rankings with a seven fight win streak, stretching back to 2018.