MARLON ‘Chito’ Vera can solidify his UFC bantamweight title claims if he can add the scalp of former two-time champion Dominic Cruz to his snowballing run of results this weekend.
Over the last two years, the 29-year-old has run Sean O’Malley off his tracks, outscored Davey Grant and Rob Font, plus he bagged a KO of the year contender over future Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar.
Only featherweight GOAT Jose Aldo has managed to better Vera recently, proving the California-based Ecuadorian belongs in the upper echelons at 135lb.
That kind of run of results is the stuff Cruz, 36, can now only dream of. It’s well over a decade since his body afforded him the chance to compete and win so readily.
The top 3 Fighters on the current roster that have never been knocked down or finished by strikes in their UFC career. Max Holloway, Jon Jones & Marlon Vera. pic.twitter.com/3JlSnVMxyO
— Andy Hickey MMA (@AndyHickeyMMA) August 10, 2022
The last decade has been hugely frustrating for arguably the greatest bantamweight of them all. Brocken bones, blown out knees, popped shoulders, you name it, chances are, Cruz has at some stage rehabbed it.
Incredibly, the San Diegan still managed to remain undefeated for almost a decade before his battered body finally gave out on him. But suffering back-to-back defeats – nearly four years apart – is also behind him now.
In 2021, for only the second time in a decade, Cruz managed to compete twice in a calendar year. Picking up wins in both too, albeit over three rounds, against solid opposition.
Juggling a thriving TV analyst career, Cruz is perhaps looking for one last reason to finally retire. But you don’t come back from the setbacks he’s experienced without more than a fair share of resilience.
The ambition from Cruz to add to his legacy is remarkable. It’s the drive of an athlete who once changed the game with his constant, considered movement, high class striking and grappling prowess.
But this five-round main event, which goes down in the early hours of Sunday morning in the UK, comes at a very different stage in both careers.
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When Cruz reigned supreme, Vera was fumbling through his early career, going 10-5-1. However, since 2018, he’s put it all together to register nine wins against two defeats. In the same time frame, Cruz has managed just three fights.
Form suggests Vera is getting Cruz at just the right time. In April, he battled through a cracking fight with ranked Rob Font, his first five-round main event, with flying colours.
He has to hurt Cruz early, ruthlessly kick away at his base, and throw punches in bunches at the stuttering, slipping style of the former champion. He has to set the kind of pace the veteran used to revel in, but is now found wanting.
Cruz, of course, could also turn back the clock. If his body doesn’t fail him, he still has the ability to bamboozle anybody inside an Octagon; slipping and ripping his way to a clear victory.
He’s also the marquee name in a fluctuating weight class. Three wins on the spin and Cruz is back in the title picture. But has he really got a championship left in him?
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