Marlon Vera: I was 'robbed in Canada' by Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Vancouver
Marlon Vera will turn 33 in a couple months, so in MMA years, there likely still is plenty of time left on the clock.
But with his third straight loss Saturday, and fourth in five fights, the former bantamweight title challenger almost certainly saw his title contender status go up in smoke – at least for now, and without a significant climb back up the mountain at 135 pounds.
After the loss, Vera (23-11-1 MMA, 15-10 UFC) took issue with the setback – a split decision loss to Aiemann Zahabi (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) on Zahabi's turf in Canada at Rogers Arena in Vancouver – and flat-out called it a robbery.
"Sometimes things can get really dark," Vera posted shortly after the fight on social media. "But not giving up will get you light. Don’t get it twisted I won tonight we got robbed in Canada."
Roughly 75 percent of the media member scores tracked by MMA Decisions had the fight for Zahabi at 29-28. The round in question from the judges was the first. All three had Vera winning the second and Zahabi the third. But only one had him taking the first round, as well.
From the official UFC stats perspective, Vera and Zahabi threw nearly the same amount of total strikes, but Vera landed with 37 percent accuracy compared to 53 percent for Zahabi. The one thing working in Vera's favor was he landed the fight's only knockdown.
But by and large, while the fight was close, Vera likely would be hard-pressed to find other analysts who would agree he was "robbed in Canada."
After a stretch of five wins in six fights, Vera got a title shot against then-champion Sean O'Malley in 2024, but lost a clear decision. There were no arguments for robbery with two 50-45 scorecards and a 50-44. In his follow-up against former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo later that year, he again dropped a unanimous decision.
Vera has 10 losses in the UFC, but he's never been stopped. To beat him, his opponents have needed the scorecards – split decision like Zahabi's or otherwise. Does he have an argument for a gripe this time? Cast your vote below.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vancouver: Marlon Vera says 'robbed in Canada' by Aiemann Zahabi
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