Dominick Cruz

Marlon Vera knocked out former two-time champion Dominick Cruz in Cruz's adopted hometown in the main event of UFC San Diego on Saturday.

The momentum shifted in the third round when Vera dropped Cruz with a right hand. In the fourth, Vera caught Cruz coming in with a jab that dropped Cruz, too. Cruz (24-4) is arguably the greatest bantamweight fighter in MMA history. The fight was a big one in the UFC bantamweight division. Vera threw a combination, Cruz tried to duck away to his right and Vera crushed him with a left head kick. Cruz also had a couple of timely takedowns that kept Vera guessing.

Marlon Vera picked up a statement win against Dominick Cruz in the main event of UFC on ESPN 41.

The striking and grappling of Murzakanov (12-0) proved to be simply too much for Clark (13-7) to deal with. Meerschaert drop Silva with a gorgeous left hook. hurt her badly with a left hook. "The Dominator" would stay out of any danger and easily control Round 2. Despite taking damage, Landwehr was the fresher fighter and was able to take over the fight, outstriking and dominantly controlling his opponent. Ultimate Fighting Championshipbantamweight champion got off to a quick start, blitzing Vera (20-7-1) with punches and getting in and out.

On the UFC San Diego main card, Marlon "Chito" Vera stopped Dominick Cruz with a head kick, plus Nate Landwehr and David Onama put on a FOTY candidate.

Silva was pressuring with body kicks right away, with Meerschaert returning kicks to the body and legs. Silva tried to escape, but the hold as on and he was forced to tap out. The hands of Silva started to fly, but Meerschaert was doing well with rolling with a lot of them. Cachoeira pounced with furious ground and pound, and Lipski was unable to recover before the referee stepped in. She recognized that Lipski was hurt and followed up with fists of fury, overwhelming her and dropping her with a right hand. The fight was finally waved off and Clark was rescued. Cruz tried again for a takedown to start the fourth frame, but failed to get the fight to the floor. He rocked Landwehr, but was unable to produce a finish before the bell. Landwehr started to take over the fight, landing knees to the head in the clinch. Meerschaert was attacking the body with kicks throughout the fight, but it was his left hook that dropped Silva, and a guillotine finished the job. He then hit a takedown with just under a minute to go in the round, but Chito threatened with a triangle that made Cruz stand up. It was ferocious ground and pound that had the referee stepping in and stopping the match.

“Chito” has now won 10 of his past 12 fights, and added a second UFC champ's name to his resume alongside Frankie Edgar. Check below for the top Twitter ...

A five-round main event between the cerebral former bantamweight champ, Dominick Cruz, and Marlon “Chito” Vera in what would theoretically put either fighter ...

Look for Witt, the wrestler, to show up and is an excellent bet at these long odds. I project this fight to end inside the distance between 73-75 percent of the time. Nate Landwehr returns to fight UFC newcomer David Onama. Onama burst onto the scene in a narrow decision loss to Mason Jones as a +450 underdog last October. Since then, he is 2-0 with two dominant victories, one by knockout and the other by submission. Jason Witt fights Josh Quinlan this weekend on the prelim card. The card will be broadcasted on ESPN and ESPN+. Unfortunately, this is likely one of the last events on ESPN this year. He mainly just bites down on the mouthpiece and comes forward wildly. If you have access to Bet365, their line on Vera to win by decision at +160 is an excellent bet. There is no parlay this weekend, although there is a bonus underdog pick on the prelim card. Strategically, Cruz is one of the best fighters on the roster at making adjustments. Even more, Vera is improving his top control, so those scrambles could be closer than people think, although Cruz should still carry an edge in the grappling department. Although historically, he starts incredibly slow and will probably lose the opening minutes of the fight. Cruz will start fast, but Vera gets better as the fight continues.

For three and a half rounds, Dominick Cruz looked like the Dominick Cruz of old, the man who dominated the bantamweight division for years.

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'Chito' became a major player in the UFC bantamweight division with a highlight reel KO in San Diego.

Vera improved to 20-7-1 and becomes the first bantamweight with 10 finishes in UFC history. Ecuador, I'm going to be a world champion." Cruz and Vera fought true to expectations. "Hey, San Diego. All the respect to your boy [Cruz]. I'm a professional. That certainly was the case in Round 4. It was a relatively competitive round, but Vera's ability to make reads and land regularly brought with it a notion that the end may be near.

'Chito' survives slow start to score highlight-reel knockout of the former UFC champion.

- Marlon Vera def. I have the work ethic, and now I have the people that will get me there. Cruz drove forward for a takedown early in the fourth, though Vera sprawled well to stay upright. Vera struggled to find the mark as often, though a devastating right hand did briefly put his opponent to the canvas. Instead, he remained the more active fighter in terms of movement and punching volume, mixing up his targets between the body and the head. As Cruz was gaining momentum, Vera did grab his attention by dropping him with a left hand, briefly slowing the assault, though not for long.

Marlon Vera figured out the elusive Dominick Cruz en route to an emphatic knockout victory in the UFC San Diego main event.

So when I dropped him the first time in the first round, the first thing that came to my mind was what happened in the [Cruz vs. His past three wins have come against ranked opponents (Cruz, Rob Font, Frankie Edgar) and he has one of the strongest cases for a title shot in his division. I didn’t try to chase the finish, I never chase the finish. “I dropped him in the first round, and when I dropped him I didn’t go crazy. “I just believe that his style is not the best style for MMA. Maybe for boxing it can work better, but for MMA you’ve got way too many weapons going. “Honestly, me and my team, we really think the way he fights is kind of very low level,” Vera said.

Marlon Vera took his time before uncorking a hellacious head kick that demolished Dominick Cruz to cap off the UFC San Diego main event.

It was an unbelievable finish, as Vera became only the second fighter to finish Cruz with strikes and the first person to ever hand him a loss in a non-title fight. Cruz continued to display blinding speed and volume on the feet as he looked to out-land Vera in every exchange. It was a fast start from Cruz that saw him come out of the corner guns blazing as he looked to establish his dominance early while keeping Vera on his back foot.

In the headliner of UFC San Diego, we saw a pivotal matchup in the bantamweight division. Former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (24-3) was taking on ...

Jab to the body for Cruz and Vera lands a body kick. Takedown attempt from Cruz and he has Vera against the fence. Nice 1-2 lands for Cruz and he gets out of the pocket. Unorthodox combination from Cruz and Vera lands a jab. Jab lands for Cruz and he throws a combination behind it. Low kick from Cruz lands and then he goes back to the body. Vera lands one big shot in that exchange that resets Cruz. Chito Vera now trying to come forward and he lands a brutal leg kick. Head kick attempt from Cruz and he follows with a right straight. Low kick and a big combination lands for Cruz who seems to be okay. Vera comes right out to start the second and he throws a head kick. Cruz throws him to the ground and lands a couple of leg kicks as Vera gets up. Vera holds the center and he’s starting to try and read Cruz. Body kick lands for Dominick Cruz. Cruz light on the feet and he lands a beautiful low kick.

Now a certified UFC bantamweight title contender, Marlon Vera is being chill about his immediate future.

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Check out the betting odds for UFC San Diego, where Marlon "Chito" Vera is favored over Dominick Cruz in the main event.

For an in-depth breakdown of each UFC San Diego scrap, check out The MMA Vivisection Podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to our SoundCloud Channel and YouTube channel to stay up to date with all of our live video content. According to the odds, the UFC San Diego main event will be reaching the scorecards. Cruz is posted up as a +195 underdog, with a $100 bet on “The Dominator” standing to see a total return of $295.

See whom Dominick Cruz should fight next after his knockout loss Marlon Vera in the UFC on ESPN 41 headliner.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 41. Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Cruz’s future after UFC on ESPN 41. Dominick Cruz’s run back to the top was derailed Saturday when he was knocked out by Marlon Vera in the UFC on ESPN 41 main event.

Get a unique rundown on all the awards that should have been handed out at UFC San Diego with Dayne Fox's Unofficial Awards.

The one thing the UFC has been able to capitalize on is his fragile chin, Witt being on the receiving end of three first round KO’s, including the aforementioned one from Quinlan. Given Witt was initially signed as a short notice replacement in the first place, it shouldn’t be a surprise in the least. Plus, while she didn’t take advantage of her edge in wrestling as much as I would have liked, she did at least make a few efforts to take the fight to the ground. Throw in the fact this was his first fight at bantamweight and he’s still just 25, I believe it would be a mistake for the UFC to give up on him. and he was on the receiving end of a brutal highlight. Thus, as much as I hate using the word robbery, I think I’m willing to use it in this case. While Cruz hasn’t been as difficult to land a clean shot on as he was in his prime, his durability has vaunted. It wasn’t just age the longtime KO specialist was battling; he was also returning from a torn ACL. Nam did look slow, but no slower than he was prior to the injury as he’s never been the fastest man at flyweight. It would have only been his second loss in a row, but I have no doubt the UFC would have cut loose the 38-year-old Tyson Nam if he showed any sign of rust. I could still see the UFC letting him loose, but I’d be keeping Youssef Zalal around after he staged a blistering comeback to secure a draw against newcomer Da’Mon Blackshear. Of course, perhaps there should be an asterisk given Blackshear took the fight on short notice and is a BIG 135er, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him gas down the stretch. Aside from the main event, there wasn’t a lot of name value to UFC San Diego. That didn’t stop those on the card from turning in a hell of a showing, making it difficult for those handing out the Performance Bonuses to figure out who to award the extra $50K to. If Meerschaert had simply caught him in the midst of a wild exchange, that wouldn’t be a bad deal. We’re here to touch on some of the more overlooked happenings of the event with my Unofficial Awards....