“The King of Rio” still has it.
On Saturday at UFC Fight Night 183, Jose Aldo defeated Marlon Vera by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The bantamweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 183 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.
While Vera (18-7-1 MMA, 10-6 UFC) had his moments in Round 2, the middle round was bookended by two fairly dominant Aldo (29-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) frames. In Round 1, Aldo showed off his technical striking with brutal body shots and leg kicks – showing flashes of the brilliances of his prime self.
In the final round, however, Aldo showed off his offensive jiu-jitsu skills – something he’s rarely displayed in recent fights.
With the victory, Aldo snapped a three-fight losing skid. Despite a stretch of misfortune that saw him lose to Petr Yan, Marlon Moraes and Alexander Volkanovski, Aldo has gone 3-3 in his most recent six fights.
As for Vera, the loss is his second in three fights. Prior to his TKO win over Sean O’Malley in July, Vera lost a unanimous decision to Song Yadong in May.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 183 results include:
- Jose Aldo def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Michel Pereira def. Khaos Williams via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Rob Font def. Marlon Moraes via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:47
- Marcin Tybura def. Greg Hardy via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:31
- Anthony Pettis def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Pannie Kianzad def. Sijara Eubanks via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Deron Winn def. Antonio Arroyo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Taila Santos def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-28)
- Tafon Nchukwi def. Jamie Pickett via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26)
- Jimmy Flick def. Cody Durden via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:18
- Christos Giagos def. Carlton Minus via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-28)