Tag Archives: Song Yadong

Marlon “Chito” Vera to Fight Cory Sandhagen in UFC Fight Night in February

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Marlon “Chito” Vera has lined up his next opponent…

The 30-year-old Ecuadorian professional mixed martial artist will face Cory Sandhagen in the main event of UFC Fight Night on February 18 in Las Vegas, the UFC has announced.

Marlon "Chito" VeraVera and Sandhagen, two of the best bantamweights in the world will meet with a title shot on the line.

Sources tell ESPN that bout agreements have been sent out and both sides are set to sign them shortly.

ESPN has Vera ranked No. 3 and Sandhagen at No. 6 in its divisional rankings.

Vera (20-7-1) has won four straight, most recently a head-kick knockout win over former champion Dominick Cruz. He has not lost a fight since December 2020 against legend Jose Aldo. Vera has won 10 of his past 12 fights overall.

Sandhagen (15-4) is coming off a fourth-round TKO win over Song Yadong in September. The Colorado-based fighter snapped a two-fight losing streak with that victory. Sandhagen, 30, has won eight of his 11 fights in the UFC.

Marlon Moraes Coming Out of Retirement with Multi-Fight PFL Deal

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Marlon Moraes is making a comeback…

The 34-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC bantamweight title challenger  has decided to come out of retirement, and will do so under a new multi-fight deal with Professional Fighters League (PFL).Marlon Moraes In addition to the new deal, Moraes (23-10-1) has agreed to a featherweight matchup against Shane Burgos (15-3) on the promotion’s tournament finals card later this year.

Multiple sources told ESPN contracts haven’t been signed for the bout, but verbal agreements are in place.

The PFL has not announced an official date or location for the event, although it is expected to take place in November.

Moraes walked away from the sport earlier this year following a four-fight skid in the Octagon, but figures to be a prominent new face in the PFL’s season format. He’s actually returning to his former home, in a sense. Moraes was a 135-pound champion at World Series of Fighting, which was rebranded into the PFL in 2017.

Originally from Brazil and now fighting out of Florida, Moraes came within one win of becoming a UFC champion in June 2019, when he came up short in a vacant title bid against challenger Henry Cejudo. He went on to drop four of his next five, although he was fighting the very best of his weight class in the likes of Song Yadong, Merab Dvalishvili, Rob Font and Cory Sandhagen.

Burgos, of New York, also signed a new deal with PFL this year. The 31-year-old fought exclusively in the UFC from 2106 to 2022. He has fought some of the top names of the division during his career. Following his signing with PFL, UFC president Dana White went so far as to admit the promotion made an error in not keeping Burgos on its roster.