Jourdain On Vera's Skid: Still Elite At UFC 331

Charles Jourdain refuses to treat Marlon Vera as a spent force ahead of their UFC 331 bantamweight bout despite the Ecuadorian's four-fight losing streak.

Vera enters the fight 1-5 in his last six, but Jourdain told reporters at UFC 331 media day that the former title challenger remains a dangerous opponent. "You cannot be in the UFC and treat a former world title challenger as a guy who's going down," Jourdain said, per BJPenn.com. "He didn't get knocked out, didn't get finished in all those fights. Some of those were razor-thin close. Some of them, I thought he won, as well. 'Chito' is dangerous even though he's 33 and on a four-fight losing streak. It would be very stupid for me to think it's a walk in the park."

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Jourdain Predicts Stoppage At 135 Pounds

The Canadian still expects to finish Vera by knockout or submission. Jourdain has rattled off three straight wins since dropping to bantamweight, stopping both Davey Grant and Victor Henry by guillotine before outpointing Kyler Phillips. He believes his power at 135 pounds gives him the edge over a fighter who has never been finished inside the octagon.

Jourdain enters UFC 331 with an 18-8-1 record and unbeaten at the lower weight class. Vera's skid includes narrow decisions and fights the 33-year-old arguably should have won, which is why Jourdain says he cannot afford to overlook the Ecuadorian when they meet Saturday night.

Reported via:

• BJPenn — Charles Jourdain explains why he’s not overlooking Marlon Vera at UFC 331: ‘Would be very stupid’