Frankie Edgar, Marlon Vera Agree to Meet at UFC 268 in New York

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An all-action Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight brawl is on the slate for Madison Square Garden.

Per the promotion’s broadcast partner of ESPN on Friday, Frankie Edgar (24-9-1) will be returning to competition after a nine-month layoff to take on Marlon Vera (17-7-1) at bantamweight on UFC 268. The two will throw down inside of Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6 for the organization's first New York-based event since 2019. The bout is not yet official, per ESPN, but both have agreed to face one another.

Edgar has dropped three of four dating back the last three years, but a pair of setbacks to Max Holloway and Chan Sung Jung led to “The Answer” searching for the answer at bantamweight. His debut at 135 pounds came against Pedro Munhoz, in a five-round thriller where the two pocketed “Fight of the Night” honors, and Edgar emerged victorious by narrow split decision. A potential title eliminator against Cory Sandhagen ended poorly for the former lightweight king, as Sandhagen separated Edgar from his consciousness in 28 seconds with a flying knee worthy of “Knockout of the Year” accolades.

Ecuador’s Vera has alternated wins and losses in his last four, with victories over Sean O'Malley and Davey Grant interspersed between decision defeats to Yadong Song and Jose Aldo – the former came at 145 pounds. “Chito” celebrates a high finish rate of 82 percent in his career, while recording stoppages in nine of his 11 UFC victories including eight of his last nine.

UFC 268 is slated to take place in Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 6. Barring any restrictions to running an event, the MSG-based card will be capped off by a welterweight championship grudge match and rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Potentially slotted in as the co-main event is a lightweight tilt pitting Justin Gaethje against Michael Chandler, although the latter may run up against New York vaccine requirements for event participation.