Marlon Vera staying patient in his quest for ranked opposition in the UFC

In-form bantamweight Marlon Vera has struggled to land a fight with ranked opposition, but says he’s not too worried about the lack of names prepared to sign on the dotted line to fight him.

Vera (15-5-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC) has finished each of his last five fights and was expected to face veteran Eddie Wineland at UFC on ESPN 8 before the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of the event.

Instead, “Chito” drew another unranked opponent in Ray Borg at UFC 249, before the UFC was forced to pull the plug on the entire event.

But Vera revealed that Borg wasn’t the first opponent presented to him for that ill-fated Apr. 18 event. In fact, the previous names offered were all ranked opponents.

“They actually offered me two different guys and they declined the fight, so Ray Borg was the third guy and that was the charm,” Vera told MMA Junkie.

“If I don’t get these top guys, it doesn’t matter. I’m gonna get it because I won’t name them for now, but two guys in the rankings declined the fight with me to fight next week. So I get (offered) those big names, but it’s not my fault (if) they don’t take it. I don’t need to go and blast them, but they know.”

Vera has seen multiple fights scrapped, including a matchup with Jimmie Rivera at UFC 247. But Vera isn’t concerning himself with matters he can’t control.

“I don’t get disappointed because sometimes when fighters get upset or they get too emotional about it, ‘Oh, you’re not giving me what I deserve.’ Sometimes I think, ‘Who the (expletive) are you to ask for things like that?’ You gotta go and earn it, and I know I’m earning things now.”