UFC Fight Night: Marlon Vera vs Dominick Cruz Prediction, Odds, Fight Card, Preview, and Live Streaming Details

In the main event of UFC San Diego, where Marlon Vera will attempt to defeat former UFC champion Dominick Cruz, the stakes are extremely high. Read more about Marlon Vera vs Dominick Cruz below.

Marlon Vera will soon compete for the UFC bantamweight championship, and Dominick Cruz will make his fourth trip to the top of the mountain. The main event of UFC Fight Night is Vera vs. Cruz on Saturday evening as the promotion makes a stop in San Diego, California.

Marlon Vera vs Dominick Cruz Prediction

Marlon Vera vs. Dominick Cruz: Vera deals in violence all the time. That is clear after a five-round thrashing of Rob Font and a highlight-reel knockout of Frankie Edgar in the third round. Cruz’s distinctive elusiveness is still present 16 years after he made his professional debut. Even though it may not be as effective as it once was, the veteran can still defeat significant opposition.

Their professional records exhibit their individual styles. Vera has a 56% finish rate compared to Cruz’s 23% in 27 fights for the advantage. Ageing Frankie Edgar had an early advantage over “Chito” until Vera changed the course of the fight late in Round 2. Font’s first round was his most productive. Vera gains from a five-round fight. He has 25 minutes to identify Cruz’s problematic patterns because of how slowly his power spreads.

Cruz deserves praise for persevering despite suffering a number of setbacks and continuing to play at a respectable level. Vera can be effectively stunned by him for the majority of the five rounds. It will be difficult to strike Vera hard enough to stop the Ecuadorian fighter from moving forward. Although his victories over Munhoz and Kenney were impressive, they were also challenging enough to make one wonder how far he can push this current run. Vera via TKO4

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Odds

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Dominick Cruz (+195; bet $100 to win $195) vs. Marlon Vera (-230; bet $230 to win $100)
• Nate Landwehr (+285) vs. David Onama (-345)
• Yazmin Jauregui (-205) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (+175)
• Devin Clark (+125) vs. Azamat Murzakanov (-145)
• Priscila Cachoeira (+170) vs. Ariane Lipski (-200)
• Gerald Meerschaert (+230) vs. Bruno Silva (-275)

Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

• Loopy Godinez (-345) vs. Angela Hill (+285)
• Lukasz Brzeski (+240) vs. Martin Buday (-285)
• Cynthia Calvillo (-195) vs. Nina Nunes (+165)
• Gabriel Benitez (-330) vs. Charlie Ontiveros (+275)
• Tyson Nam (+280) vs. Ode’ Osbourne (-340)
• Josh Quinlan (-280) vs. Jason Witt (+235)
• Da’Mon Blackshear (+110) vs. Youssef Zalal (-130)

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Marlon Vera

Vera (19-7-1) has her sights set on the throne and doesn’t want to lose to another former champion. With his no-nonsense demeanor and all-action style, “Chito” won over MMA fans. In 2020, Sean O’Malley’s brazen charisma was the ideal counterpoint to that cold-blooded character. Marlon Vera was given a significant fight against legendary former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo after defeating O’Malley via first-round TKO. Vera was unsuccessful that evening, but he has since gained ground with impressive displays against Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, and Rob Font. Vera, full of self-assurance, approaches the fight with Cruz from the same vantage point that has helped him so far.

“I don’t make monsters out of men,” Vera told CBS Sports. “I don’t think there is any impossible fight. But also there are no easy f—ing fights. This is not easier than Rob Font or Petr Yan. This is not easier than [UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain] Sterling. All of them are just as hard. It is how you show up, how you live from the start to finish in camp. This is not about these guys. It’s about me. It’s about me being consistent, being sharp and staying in shape. That’s my only f—ing job.”

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Dominick Cruz

Cruz (24-3) is constantly seeking redemption. On Saturday night, the first-ever UFC bantamweight champion will compete in front of his hometown crowd for the first time since 2009. After coming back in 2020 to take on Henry Cejudo for the championship when many believed the veteran had retired in 2016 because of injuries, Cruz has looked good enough to contend in the loaded division. Cruz believes he can return to title contention after two victories over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz.

Cruz told reporters at the media day on Wednesday, “I can honestly say that I made the 20s really hard on myself with decision-making, with mind, with thought process, and with the stress.” “I’ve heard a lot that I seem calmer in interviews. I think that’s just because of the maturity of living life and having wins and losses and learning how to be more grateful for things instead of attaching to things. That’s really helped me keep from getting hurt, too, is the mindset. You can manifest a lot of injuries just by being stressed.

“Why would I do this if I wasn’t gunning for a championship?”

Co-Main Events

Expectations are high for featherweight David Onama in the co-main event elsewhere on the card. Onama (10-1) made a significant comeback after losing to Mason Jones in his debut. Faith in his potential was rekindled by a first-round TKO of Gabriel Benitez and a second-round submission victory over Garrett Armfield. The unconventional Nate Landwehr will be the next opponent after he was submitted by an anaconda choke in October against udovt Klein.

In addition, a featured fight between Cynthia Calvillo and Nina Nunes at flyweight features two women’s veterans back in action. Since his debut, when he had a protracted winning streak, Calvillo has struggled. The San Jose native has dropped three straight matches, two of which were by knockout. She will now take on Nunes, who has won four straight matches before suffering her own two straight losses.

Streaming Details

Date: Aug. 13 | Start time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Pechanga Arena — San Diego, California
TV channel: ESPN | Stream: fuboTV (try for free)