Marlon Vera believes Islam Makhachev is the real deal after the Dagestani destroyer smashed submission specialist Charles Oliveira.
Makhachev captured the UFC lightweight title in spectacular fashion, submitting one of the promotion’s most prolific finishers at UFC 280 in October. Next, Makhachev will attempt to capture the No. 1 pound-for-pound raking as he defends his title against reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski on February 11. Ahead of the champion vs. champion clash down under, bantamweight contender Marlon Vera shared his thoughts on Islam Makhachev and the UFC 284 headliner with Helen Yee.
“Islam seems like he’s the real deal. When he gets a hold of people, he just controls you and hold you down. I just was rewatching last night him versus [Charles] Oliveira and there were times in the standup that Oliveira could pull the trigger, but he was worried about the takedown. If you have good jiu-jitsu, f*c:k the takedown. Let the takedown happen, but Oliveira showed like he didn’t want to put too much energy and being reckless in the standup like he’s been before and that why I feel Islam was able to take over.
“I feel Volkanovski is coming with a different confidence. He’s short. He’s stocky so it might be hard to take him down, but Islam and Khabib have proven that once they get a hold of you, it’s over. We’ll see if Volkanovski did his homework and is able to stop that and put in a good striking fight.”
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚-𝙤𝙛𝙛… 👀
Makhachev 🆚 Volkanovski will be EPIC 🤩#UFC284 | February 11 | BT Sport pic.twitter.com/FA1yswNNTK
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) January 24, 2023
Marlon Vera Will Return to Action the Week After Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski
While the world is focused on the impending UFC title showdown in Australia, ‘Chito’ Vera is focused on getting his own shot at bantamweight gold. First, he’ll have to contend with No. 5 ranked Cory Sandhagen. The two top-10 135-pounders are scheduled to square off just one week after Makhachev vs. Volkanovski sets the MMA world on fire. A victory for Vera would extend his current streak to five and solidify him as a title contender.
MMA Fighting recently reported that reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is slated to defend his title in April against returning two-time UFC champion Henry Cejudo. However, Cejudo’s manager Ali Abdelaziz recently claimed that reports of the bantamweight clash were nothing more than “fake news.” If the fight does move forward as reported, No. 1 bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley would likely face the winner leaving Vera waiting in the wings until late 2023.
