Four UFC fighters from very different walks of life find themselves with more in common that you might think.
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All of them have local ties – two having emigrated here, fully embracing all Southern California has to offer, while the other two are born and raised SoCal through and through.
And all four are up against it at UFC 331 on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. Every single one of them is an underdog, some with steeper odds than others, and three of them are looking to snap losing streaks.
“I mean, I’m in a hurry for a win, I’m in a little bit of an emergency, so I need it,” said bantamweight Marlon Vera, who has lost four in a row. “So I’m gonna go in there and fight with everything and try everything I have.”
That drive is a common theme among all four, as well as a wry smile they all expressed when speaking of the oddsmakers’ expectations Tuesday in exclusive interviews in downtown Los Angeles.
Deep down, they know their chances of winning better than anyone. Because they know what it’s taken to get where they are.
MARLON VERA
Two and a half years ago, Vera was on the cusp of greatness. At the time, he had won five of his six previous fights. In his sights was UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
But UFC 299 did not go his way via a lopsided unanimous-decision loss. Three more losses followed.
The 33-year-old Vera (23-12-1) looks to snap the skid against Charles Jourdain (18-8-1), a high-octane Canadian who is a 2-to-1 favorite on most betting sites. But do you really want to bet against a guy who, after making his UFC debut in 2014, left the MMA desert of Ecuador 10 years ago and arrived in Orange County, living with his manager, teaching classes and cleaning the gym, in hopes of furthering combat sports career?
“Always been against me,” the Newport Beach 135-pounder said in reference to the odds. “Where I come from. Didn’t have a team. Just do this for love and the passion of fighting or doing exciting things. And I’m here after 12 years.
“It’s crazy, the road, everything I’ve been through. And you know, I’m just made for things like this, and I’m excited to do it again.”
The four-loss stretch forced Vera to take a long look in the mirror. He amicably parted ways with coach Jason Parillo and began training in his Costa Mesa gym with fellow bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. and his team while bringing back some of his other coaches.
“Just changing something, seeing if that’s the answer,” Vera said. “It was just me looking to get some answers, and the only way is trying, and that’s what I’m doing.”
Fighting close to home, with his family in attendance, appeals to Vera. What’s more, he is fighting in the Lakers’ house that Kobe Bryant built.
“It’s amazing. I’m a big Kobe fan,” Vera said. “So I’ve always been looking up to him, to his mentality, and fighting in a place like that is special to me.”
GIGA CHIKADZE
Chikadze can relate to Vera. In 2015, the kickboxing star from the country of Georgia was living with his family in Amsterdam. One visit to a friend in Huntington Beach changed everything.
“Me and my wife both grow up in Georgia, and then we moved to Amsterdam, and there was the whole rainy, rainy days,” Chikadze said. “And we come to Huntington, and you know what? I’m not living anywhere else.”
And the 40-minute drive to downtown Los Angeles is just as appealing in an arena where, as a kickboxer in 2017, he competed for GLORY.
“I fought once in Staples, and that was a pretty great experience,” the featherweight said. “The first-round knockout by GigaKick. So now I’m back again, and I haven’t fought in UFC or MMA close to our hometown here and finally we’re doing it and that’s great. I can’t wait.”
The 38-year-old father of two continued his kickboxing career and began to dabble in pro MMA. By 2019, he was making his UFC debut. Chikadze (15-6) has gone 8-4 over seven years in the premier MMA promotion but has lost three in a row.
His opponent, Joanderson Brito (19-5-1), has won his past two fights and is a 4-to-1 favorite. Chikadze knows what to expect as foes look to limit his striking and educated kicks and take him down.
“He’s a guy who likes to fight. He’s aggressive. He’s a pressure guy, and we’ll see what happens,” said Chikadze, who at the start of the year opened his GigaKick Martial Arts Academy in Costa Mesa.
With his kids 10 and 17 years old, they are well aware what their dad does for a living, but not at the level he expects from himself. For that reason, Chikadze says this is a “very, very important” part of his life and career. Then again, when your dad’s nickname is “Ninja” and he’s been training since 4 and competing since 6, managing adversity comes with the territory.
“It puts a little pressure, but I know I’m pretty mature for fighting,” he said. “I know what I have to hold on, what I have to push, and what I need to control. Being younger, always my coaches would describe that, ‘Hey, if Giga controls his emotions, he’s definitely gonna win the fight.’ So now I’m kind of my coach too.”
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SEAN SHARAF
When you are the biggest underdog on the card, people don’t expect much. But the 33-year old Anaheim native and Santa Ana resident is ready to turn the tables on uber-hyped heavyweight Gable Steveson (4-0).
“Everyone sees it as like, ‘Oh, it’s a big name. You should be scared,’” said Sharaf, viewed by some as a 12-to-1 underdog. “But I see it as this big opportunity for me to take everything and all the hype that he has right now and make it my own.”
Sharaf (4-2) doesn’t scare easily. His last fight in the Octagon was a TKO loss to Sean Asplund in December, his second loss in two UFC fights. A sizable cut, arcing from between his eyebrows upward, hampered his vision and required 15 stitches, but a battered and bloodied Sharaf refused to go down.
“I just don’t know how to quit. I don’t know,” he said. “A lot of people might have folded, but I just kept going.”
Many of Sharaf’s initial responses are a quick “Yes sir,” possibly a byproduct of serving his country as a Marine for six years.
When asked which is tougher, Sharaf said it’s challenging to top being a UFC fighter.
“There’s no real blueprint for it. Like Marines, they call us crayon eaters. You know, we do as we’re told. They tell us, ‘Hey, wear this, be here, do that.’ And it’s like you have a set plan,” he said. “And MMA, it’s kind of like you go figure it out for yourself. And the injuries and the financial struggles till you get to the UFC, like lack of sponsorships. It’s just like a brutal game. Even once you get here, it’s still difficult.”
Growing up watching UFC legends like Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos and Anderson Silva made him a fan. After the Marines, it became his dream.
He foresees himself becoming a nightmare Saturday for the five-time All-American wrestler and 2020 Olympic gold medalist.
“He’s a good wrestler, but this is fighting, so we’re gonna fight,” Sharaf said. “I’m just excited to show the world what it means to believe in yourself. Everyone’s got him picked. Everyone’s counting me out, so I’m gonna go do my thing.
“Most of my life, I’ve been the underdog. Nothing new. Back against the wall, ready to shock the world.”
OZZY DIAZ
The 35-year-old middleweight might live in Las Vegas now, but he is definitely about as close to home as it gets fighting in a building he still refers to by its former name.
“Feeling great. Excited to be home,” said Diaz, who was sporting a Kobe Bryant T-shirt. “Yeah, I literally grew up a few blocks from here. Hope and Pico, right by the hospital. Two blocks from Staples Center. If you’re from L.A., you know what Staples Center is.”
Diaz, 35, attended Belmont and Santee highs and played football. He then began training jiu-jitsu and MMA, but it was supposed to be just a hobby.
“I didn’t want to do it at first. It was just to learn and you know go out and get down in the streets if I had to,” Diaz said. “But yeah, just fell in love with it. And I met nothing but great people. I met my best friend.”
His first amateur fight was in 2013 and he went pro two years later. He toiled in Bellator, where he went 2-0, and several regional promotions before finally making his UFC debut in 2024. He lost his first fight in the Octagon, then rebounded with a win in March last year.
The unanimous-decision victory over Djorden Santos at UFC 313 was all the more incredible considering Diaz suffered a career-threatening detached retina in his left eye on the first punch Santos landed.
“Imagine just a bunch of like black dots everywhere, like big ones, and then it’s like seeing through a curtain, but like very close. It’s crazy,” Diaz said. “It was almost impossible to tell distance. Like I didn’t know how close, how far he was. I just knew at some point he was hitting me. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s time to hit back.’ You know what I mean? At least I know he’s in front of me.”
Diaz (10-4) is coming off a TKO loss to Ateba Gautier in May and is now a +371 underdog to Brazilian Ryan Gandra (10-1), whom he calls “a good striker, powerful striker, but I do see a lot of holes. I plan to expose those holes.”
Being an underdog doesn’t faze him – he says it’s been that way his entire career and he delights in proving people wrong.
And Saturday couldn’t be a more opportune time.
“I can say this literally was my best camp and I feel so good. I just need to be myself,” Diaz said. “I feel like I still haven’t shown what I’m able to do and I feel like this is a perfect fight for that. And what better place than my hometown?”
UFC 331
Main event: Flyweight champion Joshua Van vs. former champ Alexandre Pantoja
When: Saturday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
How to watch: Paramount+ (early prelims 2:30 p.m.; prelims 4 p.m.; main card 6 p.m.)
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