Picture credit: MMA Junkie
NASHVILLE – In MMA, illegal strikes are common, despite the fact that there are many rules in the Octagon. MMA fans frequently witness illegal moves and strikes but seldom have they seen their authors acknowledging their fault. This is where Marlon Vera sets apart from others!

Vera (15-5-1 MMA, 7-4 UFC) and Frankie Saenz (13-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC), both UFC veterans met on the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 6. They both entered the night on two fight win streaks and Vera soon achieved his another big win.

Vera made the most out of his bantamweight clash with Frankie Saenz as he dropped Saenz and hailed punches on him. But a few of those punches landed to the back of Saenz’s head which Vera explained to the reporters backstage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. According to reports, Vera said, “Yes, I saw the replays; there were a couple I suppose in the back of the head. But the same thing happened to my teammate, Alex Perez, when (Joseph) Benavidez dropped him. That’s the only place to hit when you’re in that place. So what I would do, like, leave the guy there, let him recover and tell the ref like, ‘Hey, I’m a super good guy, I cannot hit him.’ (Expletive) it, if the guy’s there, you just hit him.”

Saenz took an aggressive start while Vera responded with a few sharp kicks to the legs and kept Saenz at bay before delivering a crisp left hand that saw “Chito” claim the first-round victory. He barraged punches that landed to the back of Saenz’s head as that was the only spot exposed. The bout was waved off at the 1:25 mark of the opening frame and with this Vera locks down his third-straight Octagon finish.

Breaking down his UFC Nashville win and his shots to the back of Frankie Saenz’s head, Marlon Vera added, “Because it’s either me or it’s him, you know? If I’m face down, where will you hit? Because his arms were next to his ear. There’s no way to hit around. So, yeah! I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be an (expletive) or a bad athlete. The place where we’re there, I hit it there. But I’m pretty sure, if I’m not wrong, most of the punches were in his ear before he gets to that spot when he was already sleeping. So, I’m sorry to my opponent. I don’t want to do that. I’m not a dirty fighter that happened. I got the win. (Expletive) it.”