MMAjunkie.com was first to report the bantamweight bout. UFC 247 takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston on Feb. 8 and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship tilt between Jon Jones and Dominick Reyes. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight crown against Katlyn Chookagian.
Rivera has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a decision defeat to Petr Yan in his most recent outing at UFC 238. The Team Tiger Schulmann representative began his UFC tenure with five consecutive victories. He owns notable wins over Pedro Munhoz, Urijah Faber and John Dodson.
A native of Ecuador, Vera enters the matchup on a five-bout winning streak within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, “Chito” earned a third-round TKO against Andre Ewell at UFC Fight Night 161 on Oct. 12.