‘Running away the whole fight?’: Pros react to David Martinez edging Marlon Vera at UFC Mexico

MMA Fighting

March 1, 2026

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 28: (L-R) Marlon Vera of Ecuador punches David Martinez of Mexico in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Arena CDMX on February 28, 2026 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) David Martinez scored the biggest win of his UFC career on Saturday. Not everyone was convinced by his performance. In the co-main event of UFC Mexico, Martinez won a unanimous decision over one-time bantamweight title challenger Marlon Vera, with all three judges scoring the bout 29-28 in favor of Martinez. It was a skillful performance by Martinez, who used his speed and movement to frustrate Vera for the majority of the fight; however, as he has done many times in the past, Vera surged in the third round and appeared to have Martinez on the defensive as the final minutes ticked away on the contest. For the most part, the outcome didn’t appear to be in doubt, but fellow bantamweight Vinicius Oliveira questioned the decision on Twitter. “It’s hard to understand lately, how did Martinez beat Vera if he was getting beaten up and running away the whole fight?” Oliveira wrote. See more pros reactions from social media below. It's hard to understand lately, how did Martinez beat Vera if he was getting beaten up and running away the whole fight? — Vinicius "LokDog" Oliveira (@LokdogVinicius) March 1, 2026 Chito landing everything at the end but might’ve been too late — Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) March 1, 2026 Martinez was just too fast Vera did slow him down at the end but man bro ain’t been the same since that O’Malley fight — Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) March 1, 2026 29-28 Martinez for me. I’ll give Vera the third but thought Martinez got the first two #UFCMexico — Jillian DeCoursey (@lionheartjill) March 1, 2026 Speed is a killer in this game and in the lower weight classes it’s often to much as Chito is finding out right now — Josh Thomson (@THEREALPUNK) March 1, 2026

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Originally published on MMA Fighting on 3/1/2026