NEW YORK -- UFC fan favorite Marlon "Chito" Vera is going to look a bit different in his next fight.
On Wednesday night, Vera got a new tattoo on the back of his head -- a black panther-like cat with green eyes, yellow paws, some red shading around its body and red blood dripping from its claws.
Vera, who has many tattoos already, including a scorpion with a skull on the left side of his head, told ESPN that he had no clue what he would get when he arrived at Smith Street Tattoo Parlour in Brooklyn, New York. But he knew the location on his body where he'd get it.
"There's no meaning, but at the same time there's a lot of meaning," Vera said. "For me, it's like you go to a tattoo shop, you have no idea what you're going to get. You just trust your friends and the tattoo artist. ... When I got there last night, I had no idea what I wanted."
The design was partly inspired by rapper Action Bronson, a friend of Vera's who has a black panther tattoo on his stomach and has also gotten tattoos done at Smith Street. Vera's artist was Bert Krak. Bronson accompanied Vera to the shop and even shaved the back of his head where the tattoo is located.
"He was pumped," Vera said of Bronson's reaction to the tattoo. "He was excited. He loved it."
Vera, who is in New York for UFC 281 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden though he is not competing on the card, said the new tat is his "favorite" yet.
"It's culture," Vera said. "It's a cool thing, things I like. You go in there to the shop and you pick something you like from the wall."
Vera, 29, has won four straight fights and is coming off a head kick knockout of Dominick Cruz in August. The Ecuadorian-born fighter, who lives and trains in Southern California, is primed for a big bantamweight contender fight for his next bout. ESPN currently has him ranked No. 3 in the world in the division.
