Cruz returns home to resume his quest
The San Diego area’s status as a hotbed for combat sports received a boost this week with news that UFC Fight Night will hold an eight-bout main card on Aug. 13 at Pechanga Arena.
San Diego native Dominick Cruz will be featured in a fiveround bantamweight (135 pounds) bout against Marlon “Chito” Vera, who lives and trains out of Orange County.
Tickets go on sale this morning, and given how recent UFC events have played out as well as the local f lavor involved with Cruz/Vera, fans should expect a full house.
Cruz (24-3-0) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 259 last December and says he is feeling as good physically as he has in “years” after being hampered by a string of injuries.
“Feeling 100 percent,” said Cruz, who splits time between a home in Las Vegas and San Diego, where he trains at Victory MMA. “I haven’t had the opportunity to really train through a string of fights in a while so that’s been great. Just to be able to train — sparring, wrestling — and have no setbacks, it feels so different for me.”
Vera (19-7-1) has won three straight fights and appears poised for a title shot in the near future.
A victory over a fighter with Cruz’s resume — he is a twotime bantamweight champion, holds the most bantamweight wins in history (13) and helped the division grow in popularity — would launch the 29-year old Vera to further stardom.
For the 37-year old Cruz, a strong performance in victory would remind everyone that he remains a major force and potentially set him up for another title shot.
As things currently stand, all of the top 10 bantamweight contenders, including current belt holder Alajim Sterling, are
scheduled to compete in the next three or so months, so movement up and down the division’s rankings will be fascinating to follow.
According to UFC’s latest official rankings, Vera is ranked fifth while Cruz is slotted eighth.
“I mean I’m not fighting up the ladder if I didn’t think I could be a titleholder,” Cruz said. “I’m not taking a fight in my hometown against a top competitor like Vera for nothing. At this point, I’ve won two world titles. The goal is to win a third and be the first to do that.”
The last time Cruz fought in San Diego was January 2009 when he defeated Ian McCall in a World Extreme Cagefighting event at the then-San Diego Sports Arena. The opportunity to take on Vera in front of a hometown crowd
held special appeal.
“It all really lined up perfectly,” Cruz said. “I was looking for a summer fight against a higher ranked opponent and to have it here just made it even better. It’s going to be a show.”
The decision to hold another big event in San Diego would appear to be a nobrainer for UFC given the area’s reputation for supporting combat sports, not to mention the fact that so many boxers, mixed martial artists and other current and former competitors live and train here.
The Cage Warriors series has held several events in San Diego in recent years, including the June 10 MMA event held against the aesthetically perfect backdrop provided by Humphrey’s by the Bay.
Former UFC star Chris
Leben, who made his professional debut as a referee and judge at Cage Warriors 139, opened the Training Center in Pacific Beach last November in part because the area is so fertile for combat sports.
“I mean, I was in Hawaii before and I’ve been here for several years so I guess you can figure that part out,” Leben joked. “But really, San Diego has been a mecca for a long, long time going back to the very infancy of UFC. Some people argued that I shouldn’t open my own gym here, that’s it’s saturated, but the way I see it, this is the shark’s tank. No better place to be and the sport just keeps growing. So it makes total sense for UFC to get back here for a big event.”