‘I Lost. I Failed’: Charles Jourdain Pens Emotional Message After UFC 331 Loss

After being dropped multiple times by Marlon Vera in the third round at UFC 331, 'Air' waved off the fight himself. It was an unusual ending, but Jourdain later revealed there was a frightening reason behind it: his vision had failed him. Now, after the loss, the 30-year-old has broken his silence with a brutally honest message.

Charles Jourdain Explains why He Waved Off the Fight

The Canadian had no shortage of reasons to keep fighting at UFC 331. He was in the middle of a promising run at bantamweight, with three straight wins and a performance bonus in each until Saturday.

Jourdain was taking on Vera at Crypto.com Arena when the fight took a frightening turn in the third round. ‘Chito’ had already begun finding his mark more consistently, and the Canadian was dropped multiple times as the final round unfolded.

After another knockdown, Jourdain made a decision rarely seen inside the Octagon. From his back, he waved the fight off himself. It was an unusual ending to what had been a competitive fight early on. The 30-year-old took to Instagram after the loss to explain what had happened during the final round.

Now, in the aftermath, the 30-year-old explained what had actually happened to prompt him to wave it off. Taking things to Instagram, he wrote, “Lost my eyesight in the third. I waved the fight cause I don’t need to receive more strikes to the head. I lost. I failed.”

Fighters routinely absorb punishment and push through moments when their bodies are telling them to stop. Jourdain instead recognized that he was no longer in a position to properly defend himself and chose to end the fight.

In hindsight, his decision carries considerable weight given his history. Last year, Jourdain's scheduled fight against Ricky Simon was canceled after doctors discovered a retinal issue during his pre-fight medical examination. 

The fighter later revealed that he had not even realized there was an issue until he underwent a routine eye exam. According to Jourdain, doctors warned him that competing with the damaged eye could have put his vision at risk. He subsequently underwent laser surgery on his retina.

Charles Jourdain Acts with Safety in Mind

Whether that previous issue is connected to what happened against Vera remains unclear. What is clear is that Jourdain did not want to take additional strikes to the head after realizing he could no longer see.

The loss also brought an abrupt end to what had been an impressive resurgence. He had won three consecutive fights since moving down to bantamweight in November 2024, with two of those victories coming by submission. Each of the three wins also earned him a performance bonus.

Marlon Vera Finally Finds a Way Out of His Nightmare

For his opponent, Vera, UFC 331 was a breath of fresh air. The Ecuadorian entered the bout carrying the weight of four consecutive losses, a stretch that had taken him from a UFC title challenger to a fighter desperately searching for something to change.

His losing streak began against Sean O’Malley at UFC 299 in March 2024, when “Suga” won a unanimous decision in their rematch. The 33-year-old then suffered consecutive decision losses to Deiveson Figueiredo, Aiemann Zahabi, and David Martinez.

By the time he walked into the arena to face Jourdain, Vera admitted that the skid had started to feel like a nightmare. In fact, as the fighter himself admitted, even a strong training camp could not completely quiet those doubts.

Vera explained that the nerves and negative thoughts returned once he reached fight week and entered the locker room. This time, however, he refused to let them take over.

Weathering Jourdain's early onslaught, Vera steadily increased the pressure and eventually took control in the third round before Jourdain waved off the contest. The victory gave Vera his first win since 2023 and stopped a four-fight losing streak that had threatened to push his career in an entirely different direction.