A rumor began making the rounds earlier this week that Marlon "Chito" Vera, who meets Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title on Saturday in a rematch in the main event of UFC 299 at The Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla., was having a bad training camp. When Vera's coach, Jason Parillo, heard that, he laughed.
"[UFC Hall of Famer] Michael Bisping sent me a link where [former bantamweight champ] Aljamain Sterling apparently said that," Parillo told KevinIole.com on Wednesday. "For me, it's crazy because I have a private gym so if he did hear that from somebody in the gym, I imagine I would know who it was. I asked around if anybody knew who said that and nobody had an idea. It might be something Aljo is just making up. Or, we've had sparring partners come through and maybe one of the sparring partners said something, but believe me, we've had a great camp."
Vera is facing the biggest fight of his life, and if he's become known for anything in his 14 years as a professional, it's his approach to his job. He left his family in Ecuador and came to the United States to give himself the best opportunity to maximize his potential and thus take care of his family.
And Parillo said he often encourages to those in his gym to keep an eye on Vera and emulate the way he goes about his work.
"I'm often saying to guys here, whether it's an older fighter than Chito or a younger fighter than Chito, 'If you want to be the best you can be, live your life like Chito Vera,' " Parillo said. "He puts everything into it. He's very disciplined. He hasn't lost any love for this. I think he loves it more than life itself. He knows what it takes. He's studied enough and he's learned what it takes to be the best of the world. That's a huge commitment and he is fully committed. He knows he wasn't gifted with the greatest athletic ability, but he'll work harder than anybody you'll ever see."
Vera holds the distinction of being the only man to hold a victory over O'Malley, who is 17-1 with 13 finishes. They met in the early days of the pandemic in 2020 in an empty Apex in Las Vegas at UFC 252 on Aug. 15, 2020. Vera stopped O'Malley with elbows at 4:40 of the first round.
But O'Malley injured his foot and suffered nerve damage when he was trying to pivot in the center of the Octagon. Vera took over from that point when O'Malley couldn't put weight on the right foot and went on to stop him with ground-and-pound.
O'Malley has vehemently argued it shouldn't be considered a loss, but Vera doesn't believe the win is tainted in any way.
"All that talk was just a waste of energy, in my opinion," Vera said. "Making excuses and all that. We don't really know if it's games, mind games, but it is what it is at the end of the day. And you know what? The way I carry myself, I'm not too worried about what someone else says."
He will care about what someone, namely UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer, has to say late on Saturday. If Vera hears Buffer utter the words, "And new," he'll be jumping for joy as the new bantamweight champion.
His success in MMA -- he's 23-8-1 with 18 finishes and is ranked No. 5 at bantamweight -- has allowed him to change the course of his family's life. He sat in his back yard talking to KevinIole.com, surrounding by natural beauty of trees, plants and wildlife. Making the family comfortable and successful has been what his MMA journey has been all about. Early in his career, he had to create a Go Fund Me so that he could get enough money to pay for a surgery his daughter needed.
"What I try to focus on is that I'm fighting for the world title," Vera said. "My honest goal is to win the world title and then everything that comes after is life-changing. Look, my life has already changed so much from the beginning of my career. I've earned a few bonuses and done things, but honestly, being able to get that surgery for my daughter and do for her, that was my world title. That was what my life, my wife's life, our whole family's lives.
"I like to say that's my greatest achievement in life. It's like a life title. It's a life title and right now, I'm fortunate enough I get to fight for a world title. NOt everybody can do that. I'm going to keep doing the right things, keep investing my money. It feel good to do things and it feels good to be the man. But the important thing is to live life right and be a good example."