Come 12.00 am BST on Sunday, August 14th, Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz and Marlin “Chito” Vera will meet in the center of the Octagon at the Pechanga Arena, in San Diego. Cruz will be fighting in front of his home crowd in the Main Event of this UFC Fight Night. The fight forms part of Cruz’s journey towards regaining his title. Below is a preview of the bantamweight bout, plus a quick look at the UFC fight odds for this matchup.
Cruz’s performance and fighting style
Despite entering the fight with a record of 24 wins and just three losses, sportsbooks make the former two-time bantamweight champion the underdog, placing him at +162 on the moneyline. Vera’s last fight was in May 2022, whereas Cruz hasn’t fought since December 2021 and could be going into the contest slightly rusty.
In his battle against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 269, Cruz showed all the qualities that took him to the title, when his opponent felled him with a hard shot in the first round. Munhoz tried to finish but Cruz hung on in there and was gradually able to overwhelm Munhoz as the fight progressed. The San Diego man threw stinging combinations in volume and convinced all three judges beyond all doubt that he was the better fighter of the two.
Anyone who has already watched Cruz will know how awkward an opponent he will be to face, precisely because of his stick-and-move style. Cruz’s unpredictable footwork allows him to pick his shots and retreat before opponents can counterstrike. His movement creates defensive angles and offensive ones, and that’s going to be tough to deal with.
Then there’s the feinting, which, combined with his footwork, is a major tool in Cruz’s arsenal. The feints encourage opponents to overextend with their power hand, allowing Cruz more time to react. They also enable him to gauge how they might react and to ward off counter strikes. Not only this, but he can use them to mix things up by trapping them on the ground.
Marlon Vera’s performance and fighting style
Vera, who is from Ecuador, boasts a reach, leg reach and weight advantage over Cruz, and enters the fight with a record of 19 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw. The sportsbooks see him as the favorite and give him moneyline odds of -188.
“Chito” came comfortably out on top in his last bout, which was against Rob Font in the night’s Main Event. There he delivered something of a five-round beatdown in a bruising encounter that kept the evening’s audience entertained from start to finish. Although Font knocked Vera down in the first round, the Ecuadorian came back and dropped his opponent several times during the fight. Font was trying to put behind him the memory of his loss to Jose Aldo, but this wouldn’t be the night to do it as the judges awarded the fight to Vera by unanimous decision.
When Cruz steps into the Octagon with Vera, he’s going to know for sure he’s in for a fight. Vera, who was a Muay Thai fighter earlier in his combat sports career, is a vicious striker with a nasty left kick and especially likes to dig his toes deep into the gut. This is an important part of his game, as it can ward off takedowns. No one really wants to travel through those kicks to get Vera onto the ground.
The Ecuadorian also has a tremendous left jab, unpleasant if you’re the one on the end of it, and has displayed much improvement in his boxing. He can fight from an orthodox stance or a southpaw one. Cruz will have to watch out for body shots: Vera likes to follow up hooks or jabs with body blows.
It will be interesting to see how Vera copes with Cruz’s unorthodox footwork. The San Diego man’s style could interfere with Chito’s own attacking style, as the latter likes to come forward and really put pressure on opponents. Chito may set out to chop Cruz down with this crushing leg kicks and take some gas out of the former champ’s tank.
Cruz will also have to be wary of the clinch. Chito really goes to work, wrapping his arm around his opponent’s head, which allows him to then get in a blow or two. He shows no mercy as he tears into the opponent with knees and elbows. He angles his strikes well, strikes which can be glancing blows or turn out to end the fight.
When Cruz and Vera clash on August 14th, there are going to be spectacular fireworks. Will Cruz take one step further towards regaining his title? Or will Chito have other ideas and throw him off track? There’s only way to find out, and that’s to tune in.
