Boston, MA – There was no considering pulling out of UFC 292 for bantamweight Marlon Vera as he gets Pedro Munhoz on short notice in Boston on Saturday night.
“I’m excited man. I’m healthy, I’m happy,” “Chito” Vera told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“When my opponent pulled out, (Henry) Cejudo, the first thing I just asked was give an opponent. I want to maintain the date. I don’t want to sit around and just wait. What’s the point? I’m healthy, I’m training every day, so the more reps I get the better I get. Let’s roll.”
Even though losing out on the fight with a big name such as Cejudo who is coming off a title loss hurts a bit it was not an option to say no to a replacement fight.
“I went through the rankings. Asked what was available. My first ask was why not fight (Petr) Yan. I think he said he won’t fight until the end of the year. I ain’t waiting until the end of the year,” he said.
“I like to fight three times a year. I get things get slow at the top, but I was just like who’s available. They called me one day and said Pedro already took it. I was like f*ck it, why not?”
It didn’t really matter to Vera who was going to stand in the octagon with him. As long as he got to fight on Saturday night it was all good to him.
“F*ck, you guys know, they can change the opponent on Saturday morning I’m cool with that. I don’t trip like that. I like the fact that I have a fight. If it’s Cejudo, Pedro or f*cking whoever, anywhere, I’m down,” he said.
“I’m glad I get to fight. I’m glad I get to get paid. I’m glad I get to compete, and it’s still a tough guy. It’s still a dangerous fight. I could easily (not) take it, but I like to risk everything always. I’m the guy that I roll the dice, and I get lucky most of the time.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Marlon Vera above. He takes on Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 on Saturday night.
