Marlon Vera has been getting a lot of love the past couple of days.
The rising UFC bantamweight contender picked up arguably the biggest win of his MMA career when he stopped prospect Sean O’Malley in the first round of their co-main event at UFC 252. The pay-per-view event went down Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
With the win, Vera (18-6-1 MMA, 10-5 UFC) has received congratulations from fans, fellow fighters, celebrities such as Steve-O, and now the president of his home country of Ecuador.
On Sunday, Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno took to Twitter to congratulate “Chito” on his latest victory:
“Congratulations, @ChitoVeraUFC! Well deserved victory. Your triumph makes Ecuador bigger,” president Moreno wrote in Spanish.
The 27-year-old competitor is now 6-1 in his past seven UFC bouts. The lone defeat came this summer in a controversial decision to Song Yadong. Vera’s six wins in his latest run have all come by stoppage.
