Marlon Vera Ends Losing Streak with TKO of Charles Jourdain

Marlon “Chito” Vera walked into the cage carrying four straight defeats on his back. He walked out looking like a man who’d just slammed the door on all of them at once.

The Ecuadorian snapped his skid with a brutal third-round TKO of Charles Jourdain on the UFC 331 prelims, a finish built on body work, grit and a growing sense of inevitability as the minutes ticked by.

Fast start, early warning

From the opening bell, the pace was ferocious. Both men met in the centre and let their technique breathe inside the chaos.

Vera went to the body early with sharp knees, stabbing through the middle. Jourdain answered with crisp punches to the ribs and midsection, circling and firing left and right hands around those knees. It wasn’t wild brawling; it was fast, tense, and calculated.

Twice in the first round, Vera caught a kick and dumped Jourdain to the mat. The first time he settled into guard, testing the reactions. The second, he dropped in with punches, making it clear that if Jourdain’s kicks were lazy, they’d cost him.

The round ended with a warning shot: a nasty Vera left hook that cracked clean and hinted at what was coming.

Vera turns the screw

The second frame belonged to Vera in a way the scorecards will reflect and Jourdain will feel.

Vera’s elbows in close were tight and mean, slicing through the clinch. Jourdain tried to answer with front kicks to the body, desperate to keep range, but every time a kick lingered, Vera punished it.

A low kick from Vera thudded home, then he surged forward with a slick flurry – hooks and an uppercut that crashed through Jourdain’s guard and sent him to the canvas. Jourdain scrambled, almost sprinting to the fence to regain his feet, but Vera stalked him, landing heavy shots whenever space opened up.

The pattern repeated. Another caught kick. Another trip to the deck. This time Vera’s ground and pound was cold and precise, every shot chosen, not wasted. Jourdain got up again, but late in the round a knee to the body folded him once more.

By the horn, Vera had him hurt, winded, and drowning in pressure.

The finish: Jourdain waves it off

Round three didn’t last long.

Vera stepped out with purpose, reading a tired opponent and smelling the end. Then came the moment: a big left hook detonated on Jourdain, dropping him yet again.

As he fell, Jourdain did something you rarely see. He waved it off himself.

No protest. No confusion. Just a fighter who knew he’d had enough, possibly compromised around the eye socket, definitely beaten to the point where continuing no longer made sense.

The referee stepped in. Officially: Marlon Vera def. Charles Jourdain via third-round TKO (left hook, 2:02).

For Vera, it was more than a stoppage. It was a hard reset.

Tuivasa ties unwanted record as Despaigne grinds out win

Earlier on the card, Robelis Despaigne edged Tai Tuivasa by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), a result that leaves Tuivasa in a brutal place in the record books.

Eight straight losses. He now shares the longest losing streak in UFC history with Tony Ferguson.

The fight itself was heavy, scrappy, and draining. In the second round, Tuivasa briefly looked like he might turn his fortunes around, rocking Despaigne with a massive overhand left in the opening seconds. Instead of swarming for the finish, he chose to clinch and drive the Cuban to the fence, where both men leaned, pummelled and fought for position.

Despaigne answered with a clean knee and a well-timed throw, landing in side control before the referee stood them up when the position stalled.

By the third, Tuivasa was running on fumes. He ate a grazing head kick, then chopped Despaigne to his knees with a low kick, but couldn’t build on it. Despaigne dragged him back into the clinch, used overhooks to shut down takedown attempts and mixed in enough punches and another awkward but effective throw to stay ahead.

On the mat, Despaigne finished strong with ground and pound. Tuivasa rose in the final seconds and hurled a few last punches, but the body language told the story. When the split decision was read, it was Despaigne’s hand in the air and Tuivasa’s name etched alongside Ferguson’s in a record no fighter wants.

A night framed by heartbreak at the top

The action played out against a backdrop of major news at heavyweight.

Tom Aspinall, who suffered a serious eye injury from Ciryl Gane’s pokes almost a year ago, has been forced to vacate the UFC heavyweight title after a setback in his recovery. The Briton’s reign ends not in defeat, but in a doctor’s room – a cruel twist for a champion many saw as the future of the division.

Gane, already interim champion, could now be upgraded to undisputed king without throwing another punch. For Aspinall, it’s another chapter in a nightmare run. For Gane, it may be the stroke of fortune that defines his legacy.

On a night where Vera clawed his way back from a spiral and Tuivasa sank deeper into one, the sport’s capacity for both redemption and heartbreak was laid bare. And at the top of the heavyweight division, the question lingers: whose story will the belt truly belong to when the dust finally settles?