Marlon 'Chito' Vera calls out Petr Yan after Henry Cejudo pulls out due to injury

UFC bantamweight contender Marlon 'Chito' Vera was slated to face off against former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 292 on August 19. However, Cejudo was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury and Vera has now called out another former champion.

Cejudo took to Twitter to announce his withdrawal from the UFC 292 bout.

"Some important news... Unfortunately, I won't be able to compete on Aug 19 at UFC 292. I have a tear in my right shoulder that requires rehab. I wish I could've got in there w/ Chito, but I won't be able to make a full recovery in time."

Check out his tweet below:

Vera responded to Cejudo's injury by calling out No.5 ranked contender, Petr Yan. He tweeted:

"Yan step up"

Check out Marlon 'Chito' Vera's tweet below:

Yan has suffered an unprecedented three-loss skid in the last year, losing to the champion Aljamain Sterling for a second time, and to his teammate and No.1 contender Merab Dvalishvili most recently. The Russian fighter was also shocked by underdog Sean O'Malley at UFC 280 in a very close fight.

While Yan will look to make amends in his next fight, Vera is also looking to bounce back from a controversial split decision loss to Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ESPN: Vera vs. Sandhagen. The loss ended a four-fight winning streak that Marlon 'Chito' Vera was on.

Coincidentally, Cory Sandhagen was the last opponent that Petr Yan beat in his UFC 267 win against him.

---

Fans react to Marlon 'Chito' Vera calling out Petr Yan

Fans were divided when it came to Marlon 'Chito' Vera's call-out to Petr Yan.

Some Yan fans made it clear that another stern test was not what they wanted for their favorite after the difficult run of form, but others were confident of a result.

"Great idea but can we please not? Yan fans haven’t emotionally recovered yet. It’s me. I’m Yan fans."

"Respect bro but Yan will smoke you and you know that"

Others called for him to rematch against former opponents Dominick Cruz or Song Yadong.

Some fans were onboard with the matchup but also presented reasons why it was not practical.

"Marlon 'Chito' Vera vs. Petr Yan, book it. Best fight to make amongst the bantamweight contenders, winner faces Merab."

A move up to bantamweight for former featherweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo was also a popular suggestion amongst fans.