Marlon Vera wants to bring the UFC to Ecuador, and he got off on the right foot with a big submission win over Guido Cannetti at UFC Argentina on Saturday.
Guido Cannetti and Marlon Vera have both found mix results since joining the UFC, and Saturday each man had the chance to build some positive momentum with a win. Cannetti came into UFC Argentina having gone 2-2 in his last four fights under the UFC banner. His most recent win came over Diego Rivas at UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman. Vera entered the contest having gone 2-2 in his last four fights as well, with his most recent victory being over Wuliji Buren by TKO at UFC 227.
As the fight opened, Cannetti started out with a leg kick, before rushing in looking for the clinch and knee. Vera fired a knee back then threw Cannetti to the mat. Cannetti was quick to look for the arm bar but Vera powered out. Back on their feet Cannetti landed a punch that hurt Vera, he charged forward and this time tossed Vera to the mat. Vera slowly recovered and worked back to his feet; the two briefly exchanged before breaking. Cannetti didn’t wait, and engaged again driving Vera back with punches and kicks. Vera responded with his own flurry then into the clinch where Cannetti landed a knee to the body on the break. It didn’t take long for the two to get into the the clinch again, where Cannetti landed another take down and looked to posture up inside the guard of Vera and drop punches. The round ended with Vera on the mat and Cannetti throwing low kicks to the downed fighters legs as the horn sounded to end the action.
In the second, Cannetti opened with a high kick that missed the mark. Vera fought back with a body shot before jumping in with a flying kick. He then moved to the clinch and landed multiple knees to the head of Cannerti, clearly hurting him. Vera jumped in and looked for the submission but Cannetti escaped. The duo engaged again with Marlon Vera landing multiple kicks and uppercuts. In due time Vera got Canneti to the mat and locked in a rear-naked choke. A badly hurt Canneti had no choice but to tap.
🇪🇨 🇪🇨 🇪🇨 🇪🇨 @ChitoveraUFC #UFCArgentina pic.twitter.com/iTZOIoTL0Y
— UFC (@ufc) November 18, 2018
A fired up Vera said after the fight that he wanted to bring the UFC to his native Ecuador. With a performance like that, he’s certainly made a good first step.
Marlon Vera def. Guido Cannetti by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:31
