Marlon Vera ushers in a golden era of bantamweight mixed martial arts with defeat of Dominick Cruz
In San Diego this past Saturday, the bantamweight main event between Marlon Vera and Dominick Cruz held greater significance than just future title implications. Vera’s fourth round knockout of Cruz initiates an era in the bantamweight division that will be divorced from the one Cruz dominated for so long.
Dominick Cruz put on display vestiges of his younger self on Saturday, moving in-and-out and circling to avoid Vera’s offense. In between his patented erratic movement, Cruz would blitz Vera with punching combinations, often backing Vera up and mostly disarming “Chito” with the exception of power shots landed in the first and third rounds that sent Cruz to the canvas. But even in those moments, Cruz showed his traditional elements, immediately responding with offense of his own. All 3 judges had Cruz winning the fight 29-28 through 3 rounds. Finally in round 4, Marlon Vera landed a devastating headkick that knocked Cruz out cold, possibly cementing his claim to challenge for bantamweight gold.
As one traces the faults and triumphs in Cruz’s career, it’s difficult to avoid the symbolic significance of Saturday night’s main event against Vera: for the first time we are entering a bantamweight era not attached to Dominick Cruz.
Let me explain.
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Elements of the Dominick Cruz era have been sprinkled, even if ever so slightly, into the makeup of bantamweight title fights. His title-winning fight against TJ Dillashaw was a convenient precursor to a trilogy fight with Urijah Faber a decade in the making. And it doesn’t seem the top two bantamweights in the world right now, Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, have been able to permanently cut the cord between today’s division and the one Dominick Cruz defined: Yan earned a title shot after brutalizing Cruz nemesis Urijah Faber; and Sterling is set to make a title defense against Dillashaw. And while the title has changed hands a few times, none has yet to hold the title for as long or defend it as many times as Dominick Cruz.
Now enter the Marlon Vera generation of fighters who are rising in the division. UFC matchmakers have utilized what may be serendipitous rankings in a way that appropriately pits the younger, rising talent against veterans or stalwarts of the division. It’s easy to speculate how Vera's victory on Saturday night triggers a ripple effect that produces a top 5 of bantamweight elites unlike anything we’ve yet to see. Sequenced into this series of important fights are Merab vs. Aldo, Yadong vs. Sandhagan, and the explosive O’Malley vs. Yan fight in October. Merab, Yadong, and O’Malley have big tests in front of each of them, but should they win then we have each of them ranked in the top 5, and perfect matchmaking between the four of them for years to come.
Bantamweight has struggled to find a fighter with dominance to craft a division following the absence of their chief architect. And it’s perhaps the only division with this characteristic. Featherweight after Jose Aldo? We’ve had Max Holloway and Alex Volkanovski. Welterweight after GSP? Kamaru Usman. Anderson Silva? Israel Adesanya. These fighters have found not only tremendous success as champions but have an entire entourage of opponents distinct from the ones their legendary icons fought. One could think light heavyweight following Jon Jones is in slight disarray, but Jones seemingly has moved on from light heavyweight; Cruz went away and came back, only to show the bantamweight was still his.
The bantamweight title won’t be contested between Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez. Or Cruz and Urijah Faber. Or Cruz and Dillashaw. Or a contender who hasn’t yet fought Dominick Cruz in a title fight.
Of course that’s if the bantamweight division features new contenders like Merab Dvalishvili, Song Yadong, and Sean O’Malley, and if TJ Dillashaw loses his title fight in October. Marlon Vera’s victory on Saturday sets all of this in motion.
San Diego’s main event between Marlon Vera and Dominick Cruz rightfully absorbed a big spotlight on Saturday. A big question heading into the weekend was can Cruz’s patented footwork and durability avoid the ferocious attack of Vera, who is the most prolific finisher in bantamweight history. A more intriguing narrative hanging over the fight dealt less with how the fight played out and more with which bantamweight division are we going to see after the fight concluded: the one where Dominick Cruz lays more brick to the foundation he built 15 years ago; or one where an unforeseen bantamweight division takes form in fighters like Chito Vera. Saturday was just the first episode in a epoch-defining set of fights that reaches its exclamation in Abu Dhabi in October, after which we will have a greater understanding of who represents the new golden era of mixed martial arts bantamweights.