The now executioner of Frankie Edgar spoke before UFC 268, last Wednesday during the Media Day that the UFC organized at the New York Hilton Midtown.
With the full attention of the MMA media specialized in the United States and Latin America before his confrontation with Frankie Edgar on the undercard of UFC 268 in New York last Saturday, Marlon Chito Vera recalled that years ago he was criticized for saying that in Ecuador there was no level of competition that a fighter from the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) team requires.
During the Media Day organized by the UFC at the New York Hilton Midtown last Wednesday, Vera was asked about the evolution of MMA in Latin America by the Uruguayan commentator from ESPN Gastón Reyno.
“At the beginning I saw a pond … All my friends who fight in South America, especially my friends in Ecuador. I always spoke, they criticized me a lot for doing it, but as I said before in English (during the press conference that day), I prefer to be realistic and say what I think and not make people happy, and I said: ‘Those who want to Get to the UFC, do yourself a favor and go to another country. If you do not have the visa to enter the United States and go to a team where there are world champions, where there is tough competition, go to Brazil or Mexico, which is the closest it is to being at the UFC level, “said the bantamweight. Ecuadorian who in 2014 came to that company from TUF Latin America.
“At first they criticized me and told me how could I speak about my country like that. But the level is not in my country, the level is not in other countries. All those who are arriving or those who have already arrived did so leaving (from Ecuador), and good for them. Today there is a line of Latin Americans who are going to arrive, only from Ecuador there are like seven or eight training in Mexico and one has already arrived (he refers to Michael Morales). It only takes time for there to be the same number of Latinos as Americans, just like Brazilians; that there are thirty or more Latinos within the UFC. From there each one has to make their own way because everything is achieved by winning in this sport ”, he remarked Chito Vera, who on Saturday night beat American Edgar by knockout at Madison Square Garden.
A UFC event in Ecuador?
Asked about whether he sees possibilities for the Ultimate Fighting Championship company to take an event to Ecuador, the Manabi fighter was hopeful and recalled that in November 2018, when he participated in the UFC Argentina function in Buenos Aires, he asked the head of the organization , Dana White, Ecuador will be taken into account for future cards.
“When I won in Argentina (Guido Ninja Cannetti) I asked for it and I said that I wanted to do it, and they told me that it is a possibility, but that they were first looking to go to Chile or Uruguay, where they already went. So, I think we just need to keep winning and, obviously, if they were to sign a couple more (of fighters) from Ecuador, there would be no reason not to. We have coliseums, closed places, we have new arenas. I think you just need time and you have to be patient and keep winning ”.
In August 2019 in Uruguay, the UFC Fight Rights event: Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2, while in May 2018 in Santiago de Chile the UFC Fight Night 129 took place: Maia vs. Usman.
For now, the UFC is scheduled to close 2021 with three UFC Fight Night functions at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, on November 13 and 20 and December 4, respectively. UFC 269 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 11, and another UFC Fight Night on December 18 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The 2022 program will kick off on January 22 with the UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Win, at the Honda Center in Anaheim (California). That day the Ecuadorian welterweight Michael Morales will make his debut. (D)
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