Marlon
Vera
zeroed in on the top of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division years ago.
Now, another all-time great stands in his way.
“The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” semifinalist will test his
mettle against former UFC and
World Extreme Cagefighting champion
Dominick
Cruz in the
UFC
on ESPN 41 headliner this Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San
Diego. Vera rides a three-fight winning streak into the Octagon. He
last fought at UFC on ESPN 35, where he outpointed
Rob Font to a
unanimous decision in their five-round April 30 main event. Cruz,
meanwhile, has rattled off back-to-back victories. The
Alliance MMA cornerstone last competed on Dec. 11, when he was
awarded a unanimous verdict over
Pedro
Munhoz at UFC 269.
As Vera and Cruz approach their high-stakes showdown at 135 pounds,
a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this
point:
29: Years of age for Vera, who was born in Chone, Ecuador, on Dec.
2, 1992.
8: Vera wins by submission, accounting for 42% of his career total
(19). His methods of choice: three rear-naked chokes, two triangle
chokes, one heel hook, one triangle armbar and one armbar. Vera
holds seven other wins by knockout or technical knockout (37%) and
four more by decision (21%).
85: Seconds needed for Vera to cut down former
King of
the Cage champion
Frankie
Saenz with punches at UFC Fight Night 148 on March 23, 2019.
More than three years later, it remains his fastest finish to
date.
350,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Vera across his 19
appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the
Night” on four occasions and “Fight of the Night” on three
others.
179: Combined victories between the seven opponents—
Jose Aldo,
Yadong
Song,
Douglas
Silva de Andrade,
John
Lineker,
Davey Grant,
Marco
Beltran and
Bruno
Leandro
Soares Lobato—who have beaten Vera. They boast a cumulative
.719 winning percentage (179-67-3).
36: Years of age for Cruz, who was born on Sept. 3, 1985 in San
Diego.
7: Cruz victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
29% of his career total (24).
Takeya
Mizugaki and
Brian
Bowles highlight his list of victims. Cruz owns one other
victory by submission—he dispatched
Juan
Miranda with a rear-naked choke at a Total Combat show in
2006—and 16 more by decision.
26: Takedowns recorded by Cruz as a UFC bantamweight, tying him
with archrival
Urijah Faber
for sixth on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only
Merab
Dvalishvili (50),
Ricky Simon
(37),
Brett Johns
(29),
Rani Yahya
(28) and
Tony
Gravely (28) have been credited with more.
69: Rounds completed by Cruz as a professional mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on 17 different occasions and
carries a 16-1 record in those bouts.
.778: Cumulative winning percentage between the three
opponents—Faber,
Henry
Cejudo and
Cody
Garbrandt—who have defeated Cruz. They sport a combined record
of 63-18.