Immediately following his big win over rising star, Sean O’Malley, at UFC 252, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera spoke with the press to discuss the lead up to the fight, and how he’s feeling after a dominant first round stoppage over an opponent who was receiving a lot of hype and attention going into their co main event bout.
Vera was asked about something he mentioned before the fight regarding The Joe Rogan Experience, helping him out mentally for UFC 252.
“I think Joe Rogan pumped me up pretty good,” Vera told reporters. “The way he talks about inspiration, motivation, hard work, and stuff like that, that’s something that I really admire from him. He seems to be a solid guy and you know, when he talks about things like that, he’s a pretty good motivator the way he says conquer your inner bitch, push yourself, and I remember a long time ago, they talked about the immigrant mentality and I captured that pretty good because that’s me right there. That’s the meaning of being myself you know, coming from a small town in Ecuador, moving my whole family to California, buying a house and keeping going forward trying to achieve my dreams and keeping my family safe and happy, those things are what I am. I’m an immigrant and I’m somebody that came to this country to take advantage for good, not for divide, and just to work hard you know, hard work will always pay off.”
Chito was then asked whether or not he would ask Joe Rogan if he can come on his podcast in the future.
“That’s a thing I will never do,” said Vera. “Everybody’s asking for that, everybody wants to be there because people want to be famous. I’m not a person that’s chasing that type of stuff, if he invites me one day, it would be a pleasure, I would love it but I’m not a person that asks for those types of things like ‘hey can you invite me there’ that’s pretty silly when people try like that. When you want things, they will come to you.”
After picking up his big win, Vera, 27, is eyeing a top ten matchup in his next fight. Considering he’s won six of his last seven fights, and the fact that many people believe he won his last fight against another rising prospect, Yadong Song, back in May, he should get the matchup he’s looking for very soon.
