Following a controversial split decision over Jose Aldo, Mario Bautista will look to extend his unbeaten streak to eight when he returns to the Octagon in a few short weeks.
On May 3, the UFC will hold its first event in the state of Iowa since 2000. There, Bautista is scheduled to square off with one-time title challenger Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in a fight that could push the streaking bantamweight standout even further up the bantamweight top 10. It’ll be his first time competing since besting Aldo at UFC 307 in October.
While it was undoubtedly the biggest win of his career thus far, his performance against ‘Junior’ left a lot of fight fans frustrated. Through the majority of the three-round bout, Bautista pressed Aldo against the cage and controlled the clinch—and that’s about it.
The complete lack of offense infuriated fans, especially when Bautista ended up winning on the scorecards.
MARIO BAUTISTA BEATS JOSE ALDO VIA SPLIT DECISION 👀 #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/5gWrPJoADF
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024
Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Bautista revealed that while the backlash has cooled down in recent months, he still gets harassing messages from fans online.
“I wouldn’t say it got worse [since right after the fight], but it has lasted a long time,” Bautista said. “I feel like I still get little messages here and there, but it didn’t get any worse than the first month, but it’s still ongoing.”
One individual who was especially irritated by Bautista’s performance was popular YouTube content creator The MMA Guru. So much so that the Guru placed a bounty on Baustisa, vowing to pay $10,000 to any fighter who knocks him out inside the Octagon.
“I didn’t know who MMA Guru was until after that fight,” Bautista said when asked about MMA Guru’s bounty. “That’s pretty crazy to have a little bounty on me. Maybe if that time comes, he’s gonna have to pay up.”
Of course, if nobody manages to KO Bautista, he thinks the Guru should give him at least half of the bounty, if not the full $10k.
FUCK THIS FUCKING DUMBASS SPORT STOP REWARDING COWARDS LIKE MARIO BAUTISTA STALLING AGAINST THE CAGE AGAINST A LEGEND IN JOSE ALDO!
I GOT 10K FOR THE FIRST 135’er that puts that fucking pussy dead in the octagon with an extra 1K for every follow up shot, #UFC307 FUCK BAUTISTA
— THE MMA GURU (@THATBOYMMAGURU) October 6, 2024
Looking ahead to the future, Bautista offered his take on the man he’ll meet in Des Moines.
“I think ‘Chito’ is very well-rounded,” Bautista said. “Not only striking and grappling—I think in the wrestling department I might have the upper hand, but he’s a great fighter. He’s very tough. He’s fought for the title and gotten himself all the way up there and he’s been around the sport for a very long time.
“I think it’s going to be a great fight. He’s a real dangerous opponent. I’m excited to test myself against him.”
As for how he sees things playing out between the two, Bautista declined to offer a prediction, he does expect Vera to dish out just as much as he takes making for an exciting scrap.
“‘Chito’ is very tough,” Bautista added. “He always comes forward and he’s not going to leave himself in bad spots so I’ve definitely got to be ready for all 15 minutes. He takes some hard shots. We all saw that knee he took from Sean [O’Malley]. He’s gonna take it and he’s gonna give so I’m looking forward to an exciting fight with him.”
Mario Bautista Offers His Take on Controversial Finish Between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong
Bautista also offered his take on the controversy surrounding last month’s bantamweight clash between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong.
With time winding down in the third round, Song inadvertently poked Cejudo in the eye bringing a pause to the action. ‘Triple C’ proceeded to take the full five minutes of recovery time before the fight resumed. However, once Cejudo made it back to his stool after avoiding Song for the final minute of the round, he promptly told his corner that he could not see which brought an end to the contest.
It’s unclear if Cejudo thought the fight would be ruled a no-contest due to the eye poke, but since they’d completed the third round, the fight went to the scorecards where Song was awarded the win via unanimous decision.
“It was super weird,” Bautista said while recounting the confusing finish of Cejudo vs. Song. “I think he definitely got poked in the eye. That [finger] went in pretty deep, but I don’t know—I think [Cejudo] tried to play the rules a little bit, but I don’t know if he fully understood it or not but it kind of backfired on him because he took that whole five minutes. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone take the full five minutes [to recover] which I thought was a bad idea.
“You’re kind of gassing Song Yadong and you’re starting to get an upper hand in the fight and then you give Song a whole five-minute break. He was already winning the first and second because he comes out fast and hard and that’s exactly what happened after the break. Maybe Cejudo didn’t like how it was going after that break and decided he couldn’t fight.
“So yeah, it was just a weird situation that I think just backfired on Henry.”
Watch the full exclusive interview below:
