A former champion takes on a rising contender next month as Jose Aldo battles Marlon Vera at the UFC event set to take place on December 19.
Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com first reported the scheduling of Jose Aldo taking on Marlon Vera. It was made official during the broadcast of UFC 255.
One of the best bantamweight contenders around will face one of the greatest fighters in UFC history as Marlon Vera looks to continue his run to the title against Jose Aldo, who will be looking to stop a three-fight losing streak.
Vera has always been an incredibly entertaining bantamweight, but since 2018, he’s established himself as one of the best 135ers in the world. The Ecuadorian has been on an absolute tear, going 6-1 with all of his wins coming by stoppage. The lone loss came to featherweight Song Yadong in a decision that many thought Vera had won. Most recently, Vera put a halt to the rise of Sean O’Malley, knocking him out after O’Malley injured his leg.
Aldo has long been regarded as the greatest featherweight of all time. However, his time in the division came to an end last year after he fell to current champion Alexander Volkanovski. Prior to that, he was the champion from 2009 to 2014, then went 3-4, only losing to the best of the best in Max Holloway, Conor McGregor, and the aforementioned Volkanovski. He moved down to bantamweight afterward, losing in a controversial split decision against Marlon Moraes. It was so controversial that he received a title shot against Petr Yan after that. Unfortunately, Aldo lost with a brutal TKO finish.
December 19 is shaping up to be a date full of fantastic fights. The event is headlined by Leon Edwards and rising star Khamzat Chimaev and also features great bouts like Marlon Moraes vs. Rob Font and Stephen Thompson vs. Geoff Neal.
