Ask Marlon Vera what sparked his mixed martial arts career and he’ll tell you he had a screw loose. Perhaps some problems simply require more unique (and painful) solutions.
“Chito” gets his name on the marquee this weekend in a fight that commands far more attention than the street fights of his youth. Vera was once the troublesome teenager who plagued his parents. Now he’s poised to reach the pinnacle of the sport and secure a shot at a world title when he takes on former champion Dominick Cruz in the UFC San Diego main event.
“They thought I was just making excuses not to go to college. They thought I was just fumbling around and using fights as some kind of excuse to just be a fucking problem. I brought a lot of problems around the house,” Vera told CBS Sports. “I would fight, go to jail, and break things. I wasn’t the kind of kid that would steal or do stupid shit like that. But if you me would give one [chance to] Graffiti I would probably draw a cock in someone’s house. I had too much energy. Grew up trying to do damn things for fun. Looking back, I said, ‘Well, that wasn’t fun.’
“So at the beginning [my parents] were like, ‘God, this kid is only trouble. We don’t want this kid to learn how to fight. That would be bad.” But actually it was a solution to my problems. When I started combat training, everything went away. Alcohol disappeared and cigarettes disappeared. Many opportunities to use drugs disappeared. I realized that if you want to be a fighter, you have to become an athlete.”
Watch the full interview with Marlon Vera below.
Vera slowly worked his way through South and Central America starting in 2012 before finally earning the UFC call in 2014. Still a hopeless case, Vera only started 4-4 in the Octagon before receiving devastating news.
In 2018, Vera’s daughter Ana Paula underwent surgery for a rare congenital neurological condition called Möbius Syndrome. The condition causes facial paralysis and prevents the formation of facial expressions. As a result, Vera did not see his daughter smile for the first seven years of her life, and the condition would require expensive surgery.
Vera raised most of the required $80,000 through fights, but almost $20,000 was raised by the MMA community through GoFundMe. Vera described his daughter’s birth as a “watershed moment” in his MMA journey.
“When I saw her, especially in her condition, I thought, ‘I can’t let this kid down.’ We can’t be another young couple that breaks up and can’t find a way to find out,” Vera said. “It makes me really proud when I was really able to stay with my wife, keep the baby, make sure the baby is okay, work for the baby. I owe everything to that child because when she came into my life, I changed everything around me for her.”
Vera wanted to give his daughter a smile that he feared the surgery could cost him his competitive edge.
“I was a bit scared at first,” said Vera. “[I thought] I stopped fighting after the surgery because I thought, ‘This is more than a world title. You really make sure your daughter can smile for the rest of her life.” The thought crossed my mind. I was a little concerned that I would stop pushing once she had surgery. But thank God I have this good mentality and good work ethic. It was just one step in my life and I’m glad I kept going and kept dreaming because the surgery was the first. Even before we bought a house, I invested this money – I will never say “spent” – on my daughter. It was money I would have used for a down payment on a house. It’s a lot bigger than a house.”
Now as he prepares for a fight that could put him in the title shot and better support his wife and daughter financially, Vera remains focused on himself and his own preparation.
“I don’t make monsters out of men. I don’t think there is an impossible fight,” Vera said. “But I also don’t think there are any damn easy fights out there. This ain’t easier than Rob Font, Petr Yan, [Aljamain] Sterling, all are equally hard. It’s all about how you show up. How to lead from start to finish. It’s not about those guys, it’s about me being consistent.”
*Author’s Note: Some of the citations have been tweaked for clarity