Marlon Vera will either need a late replacement opponent or he won’t be fighting on next month’s UFC 247 pay-per-view anymore.
The rising bantamweight contender was scheduled to face Jimmie Rivera on the February 8th card in Houston, TX, but a report from MMA Junkie says Rivera has been forced to withdraw from the contest due to injury. No announcement has been made by UFC officials.
Rivera (22-4) is on a two-fight losing streak, dropping decisions to top contenders Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. He’s also notably beaten Urijah Faber, Thomas Almeida, and Pedro Munhoz on his way to becoming one of the top fighters in the 135 lbs division.
Vera (15-5-1) has won five consecutive bouts and has craved a step up against better competition, specifically naming Rivera as someone he wants to fight. “Chito” has stopped Wuliji Buren, Guido Cannetti, Frankie Saenz, Noe Hernandez, and most recently Andre Ewell on his excellent run of victories.
UFC 247 features a light heavyweight title main event between Jon Jones and Dominick Reyes, while Valentina Shevchenko puts her women’s flyweight title on the line versus Katlyn Chookagian in the co-main event.