UFC ESPN 41 (Vera vs. Cruz) Preview
The UFC is heading to the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California for UFC ESPN 41 on Saturday August 13th. The main event will be a bantamweight battle between surging contender #6 Marlon Vera vs. former champion #8 Dominick Cruz.
Vera has won three straight fights having most recently defeated Rob Font by unanimous decision this April in a headlining fight. The 29-year-old has been fighting in the UFC since 2014 and has gone 13-6 for the promotion. A win on Saturday over a former champion and future hall-of- famer would most certainly be the biggest victory of his career.
The build up to this fight saw negative energy between Vera and Cruz, but Vera seems to be locked in. When asked how he feels about the back-and-forth Vera said, “no emotions.” He then said, “cold blooded.”
Vera was asked about why this fight couldn’t be booked before. “The reason? I don’t know. I don’t care,” Vera said. “So I just made that public: ‘Hey, guys, I got offered a fight, he declined.’ Tagged him, talk sh*t or whatever. Who knows? I’m fun on Twitter. When I saw him face to face, I was like, ‘Hey, if you want to fight, let’s fight.’ I just keep it real. I’m not just gonna walk and sucker punch you. I’m not a b*tch. But if you give me the wrong energy, I’m sure we’re fighting.”
The Ecuadorian fighter is not letting any past drama with Cruz impact his focus. “I just speak the truth. I keep it real,” Vera said. “I don’t think fighting is a pretty thing. I’m not here to shake hands or bow to each other. If I want that, I would go to any other sport. But I like to fight. … I ain’t mad at nobody. I really have no emotions to anyone I ever fought. When they give me a contract with a name, and we get locked in the cage, I want to f*ck you up. Simple.”
Aside from Font, Vera has key victories in his career over Frankie Edgar, Davey Grant, Sean O’Malley, Andre Ewell, Brian Kelleher and Brad Pickett. It is hard to believe he is still not 30 years old considering he has been fighting professionally since 2012 and has been through wars. Cruz will bring an entirely new challenge for Vera with his odd movements and footwork, but a win marks Vera’s arrival as a serious threat to challenge for the bantamweight title.
Dominick Cruz has won two straight fights having most recently defeated Pedro Munhoz at UFC 269 in December. The former two-time champion took over three years off from the octagon after losing his title to Cody Garbrandt in 2016. He has only fought three times since but has found a resurgence in his last two fights. The San Diego native will have the added pressure or advantage of fighting in his own backyard on Saturday.
The 36-year-old has his sights set on being a three-time champion. "I do think I"m still gunning for a championship. Why would I do this if I weren't gunning for a championship? It would be pretty useless in my opinion," Cruz said.
"I'm doing this for the possibilities. We don't know what's going to happen, but I'm in it and I choose it."
Cruz believes a win over Vera is the kickstart he needs to go on another title run. "I do think that I'm on my way towards the title. Why wouldn't I be? I'm in the top eight, on my third title run, facing a guy that's about eight years younger than me that's really pissed off about something. I can't figure out what yet, but it should be interesting.”
Dominick Cruz is most definitely a hall-of-famer and owns the greatest championship run at bantamweight in WEC/UFC history. From 2008 to 2016 he won 13 straight fights and had five successful title defenses. Aside from Munhoz, Cruz has key victories in his career over Urijah Faber (twice), T.J. Dillashaw, Takeya Mizugaki, Demetrious Johnson, Scott Jorgenson, Jospeh Benavidez (twice), and Ian McCall.
A win over a soaring contender such as Vera would remind the MMA world that Cruz is not only one of the greatest bantamweights of all- time, but one of the greatest fighters of all-time and age is only a number.
The Rest of the Main Card:
Featherweight - Nate Landwehr vs. David Onama
Women's Strawweight - Yazmin Jauregui vs. Iasmin Lucindo
Light Heavyweight - Devin Clark vs. Azamat Murzakanov
Women's Bantamweight - Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Middleweight - Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bruno Silva
ESPN Prelims:
Catchweight (120 lb) - Angela Hill vs. Lupita Godinez
Heavyweight - Martin Buday vs. Łukasz Brzeski
Women's Flyweight - Cynthia Calvillo vs. Nina Nunes
Lightweight - Gabriel Benítez vs. Charlie Ontiveros
Flyweight - Ode' Osbourne vs. Tyson Nam
Catchweight (180 lb) - Jason Witt vs. Josh Quinlan
Bantamweight - Youssef Zalal vs. Da'Mon Blackshear
