Petr Yan and Marlon Vera ramp up social media bickering ahead of potential UFC booking: “Everything has its time!”

Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan and Marlon Vera could potentially be on a collision course in a pivotal showdown for the division.

Yan and Vera both fought at UFC 299 last month, with Yan earning a win over Song Yadong and Vera falling short to Sean O’Malley. Both bantamweights are looking to stay in the bantamweight title mix and earn potential runbacks with O’Malley.

Weeks after suffering the unanimous decision loss to O’Malley, Vera is turning the page and looking ahead to a return to the Octagon. He’s targeting a return in November against Yan or another top bantamweight contender.

After Vera accused Yan of turning down multiple fight offers, Yan felt compelled to hit back strongly on social media.

Petr Yan/Marlon Vera beef ramps up ahead of possible UFC clash

In a recent tweet, Yan responded to Vera’s remarks about his planned UFC return.

https://twitter.com/PetrYanUFC/status/1783385159062208884

“Let’s be honest, if we had fought earlier, you would never have made it to the title fight,” Yan tweeted. “Everything has its time, and the time for your whooping is coming soon [Marlon Vera].”

It didn’t take long for Vera to respond in an attempt to lure the former UFC titleholder Yan to a booking.

https://twitter.com/chitoveraUFC/status/1783512981307015418

“Shut the fuck up, just show up,” Vera replied.

Yan got the last word in by mocking Vera’s UFC 299 loss.

Keep lying to yourself that someone can refuse to fight a walking punching bag #easymoney https://t.co/jKJNMgRwKD

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) April 25, 2024

“Keep lying to yourself that someone can refuse to fight a walking punching bag,” Yan responded.

Before UFC 299, Vera won a close decision against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 last year. Yan bounced back against Yadong after consecutive losses to Aljamain Sterling, O’Malley, and Merab Dvalishvili.

Vera and Yan could potentially return to the cage in the coming months, and their recent social media blowup makes a matchup further enticing. The winner of the potential clash could move one step closer to a top contender booking.