The Rookies: UFC Fight Night 233

Carlos Vera looks like a classic case of better late than never.

The 36-year-old Ecuador native will make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in a short-notice assignment opposite Daniel Marcos as part of the UFC Fight Night 233 undercard on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The two bantamweights agreed to match one another at a 140-pound catchweight. Vera was a quarterfinalist on Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, as he trained under former two-division champion Conor McGregor before being eliminated in a unanimous decision loss to Brad Katona. He views himself as a well-rounded threat.

“I have a wide range of traditional martial arts experience, so a mix of taekwondo and South American martial arts, and kickboxing and jiu-jitsu for the last six years,” he told UFC.com prior to the season. “I’ll go anywhere, and I’m very crafty. That’s the way I see it. It’s a very crafty style, and I’ll do whatever I can to win.”

Vera enters the Octagon the strength of four consecutive victories, all of them before he appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter.” He last competed under the Fury Fighting Championship banner on Sept. 23, 2022, when he put away Isaiah Gutierrez with a first-round guillotine choke. The 5-foot-6 Vera has secured five of his 11 career wins by submission. He operates out of the Fifty/50 Martial Arts Academy in Falls Church, Virginia, where he serves as the gym’s striking coach and sharpens his skills under UFC veteran Ryan Hall, a decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who won Season 22 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

In the undefeated Marcos, Vera draws a difficult first test. The Peruvian punched his ticket to the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, as he rode devastating leg kicks, multi-punch bursts and stellar takedown defense to a unanimous decision over Brandon Lewis. Marcos has since proceeded to rattle off back-to-back victories over Saimon Oliveira and Davey Grant to improve his record to an eye-popping 15-0. Marcos, 30, was a bantamweight champion in Peru’s 300 Sparta organization prior to his UFC arrival.

Meanwhile, two other UFC rookies are slated for action against one another, as Rayanne Amanda dos Santos meets Talita Alencar in a three-round women’s strawweight prelim.

Dos Santos has won seven of her past eight bouts, a decision defeat to Denise Gomes on DWCS in August 2022 the lone hiccup. The Marajo Brothers rep last suited up on May 3, when she captured the Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight crown with a five-round unanimous decision over Jillian DeCoursey at Invicta 53. Dos Santos, 28, has procured more than half (eight) of her 14 pro victories by submission, seven of them via armbar. Alencar, meanwhile, steps into her company debut with a 4-0-1 record in tow. The unbeaten 33-year-old Brazilian last fought on DWCS in September, when she settled for a unanimous draw with Stephanie Luciano. Alencar has also plied her trade in the Titan Fighting Championship and Legacy Fighting Alliance promotions.