It’s been a while since I was inspired to write one, but UFC Mexico City was the rare UFC Fight Night event that generated more storylines than simply “this guy beat that guy (or gal), let’s move on.”
From a shocker in the evening’s main event to resurgences and freefalls for a few veteran stars, the Mexico City card was both entertaining and pivotal for several careers. Not the least of which is Lone’er Kavanagh, who shocked just about everyone with a stellar performance in the evening’s main event, outpointing a former two-time flyweight champion.
Lone’er Kavanagh arrives with the upset of the year
Lone’er Kavanagh has arrived.
The smart money at UFC Mexico City on Saturday went to Brandon Moreno when it came to the flyweight main event of the night. Moreno, a former two-time flyweight champion in the UFC, remains one of the best in the weight class. He reminded us of that with wins over Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg in 2024 and 2025. Yes, he closed out 2025 with a loss to Tatsuro Taira, but Moreno is far from done and Taira is next in line for a title shot.
When Asu Almabayev, Moreno’s original opponent for the UFC Mexico City headliner, was injured, the UFC was forced to scramble. The bottom line is that they didn’t want to host an event in Mexico City without Moreno, their biggest active Mexican star, in attendance. Could they have gone further without him? Sure, but it wouldn’t have been the same.
For whatever reason, the promotion was unable to come up with a ranked opponent for Moreno. Kyoji Horiguchi confirmed in February that the UFC had contacted him, but he would not withdraw from his fight with Amir Albazi. Instead, he told the company he would fight Moreno if he beat Albazi. Too much of a gamble, especially if Horiguchi loses or takes too much damage. He didn’t, but you can’t blame the UFC for moving on.
They landed at Kavanagh. 26 years old, unranked, only three fights in the UFC (the Mexico card was his fourth). And suffered a loss against Charles “Inner G” Johnson. So yeah, the smart money was on Moreno, but no one told that to Lone’er Kavanagh.
If you’ve been following Kavanagh’s career with Cage Warriors and watching his Contender Series performance against An Tuan Ho, another highly touted flyweight prospect, then you know that at 125 pounds, Kavanagh is considered a future star. For others, Saturday may have come as a shock.
Even if you recognized Kavanagh’s talents, did you let him beat Brandon Moreno on short notice? Now be honest. It’s only February (March as of this article’s publication) and we have a bona fide Upset of the Year candidate. One that will be very, very difficult to beat.
Lone’er Kavanagh has arrived. Expect a big booking for him next time. And it seems he even has a fan in Jon Jones, with Kavanagh revealing at the UFC Mexico City post-fight press conference that the superstar had called him to praise his leg kicks.
Chito Vera’s career is far from over, but his days as a contender are
Back at UFC 299, Marlon “Chito” Vera was on top of the world. As someone who has personally covered UFC events for the better part of a decade, I witnessed something I had never seen before: When I took on Sean O’Malley at the height of “Suga Show” fame, it was Vera who got not one, but two media day sessions in Miami.
The Ecuadorian media in particular and the Spanish-language media in general had appeared in such numbers that the media room could barely contain everyone. So Vera did one session in English and a second in Spanish. He got the star treatment and had he won the title that Saturday his profile would undoubtedly have exploded.
The problem is that Vera didn’t win against O’Malley, and he hasn’t won since. On Saturday, Chito found Vera with his back against the wall, with three consecutive defeats. And as he has historically, he got off to a slow start in the UFC Mexico co-main event, where he would ultimately lose a decision to David Martinez.
Vera didn’t just get off to a slow start. He essentially had no start. Martinez was one step ahead the entire fight. It wasn’t just a speed problem, although Martinez did seem a little faster. Vera just didn’t seem to have many explosive moments in her. His killer instinct seemed to have lost its edge.
Chito Vera is far from finished, mind you. He’s a big enough star in the UFC (in an era that is sorely lacking superstars and has seen even moderate stars like Vera dwindle) to survive four straight losses. The cynical side of me wants to say that if Sam Alvey can continue a nine-fight winless streak (eight losses and a draw), anyone can, but the reality is that few fighters are given that kind of leeway by the UFC.
Vera should, and probably will. But his days as a contender are over. At 33, Vera is on the cusp of aging in terms of bantamweight contention, and he’s as far away from the title as ever. He will be given gatekeeper status, assuming he wants to keep fighting. A few wins and he’ll be back in co-main events and perhaps headlining Fight Nights. It’s been a great achievement for Chito, and we’re not putting any pressure on his career, but the reality is that we’ve probably seen his prime.
Now it’s time for fun battles. There are many for a fighter like Chito Vera.
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