- Dominick Cruz explains his three conditions for taking the fight with Marlon Vera.
- Cruz insists that there is no beef with Vera on his end.
Dominick Cruz is back in action this weekend when he takes on Marlon Vera in the main event of UFC on ESPN 41. The fight is an important one for both fighters because they are getting to the top of the division and a title fight could be a logical next step for both men with a flashy or impressive win. For Cruz, he is looking to climb the ladder and get to another title shot and it didn’t matter to him who he fought. He said he had three conditions when accepting this fight with the number five ranked Vera. He spoke about his stipulations on The MMA Hour.
“He’s ranked higher than me and that was a goal. I wanted somebody ranked higher than me,” Cruz said. “The reason is when you get somebody ranked higher than you you’re going to face them in the near future anyways, so on your way up the ladder, you got to face these guys. So yeah, that’s fine. It wasn’t like a preference on the person as much as the date, being around fans, and somebody ranked above me. All those things happened. I’m a happy camper. I’m doing the best I can here.”
Cruz is on a mission to regain his lost UFC title. He feels taking out somebody who is ranked ahead of him is the way to get there. Cruz spoke about the rise of Vera in the division and says he respects him for that journey. He knew the two of them would be meeting eventually so he accepted this bout on August 13 in San Diego California. It just so happened that the date Cruz had in mind falls on an event right in his hometown. Vera had been critical of Cruz, saying that he was ducking him when he called him out in recent years. Cruz just thinks it was a disagreement of schedules.
Cruz insists that there is no hard feeling with Vera
There has been some animosity on the end of Vera when it comes to the fight with Cruz. He has been thrown some harsh words Cruz’s way in the lead-up to this bout. Although Vera has been showing anger towards Cruz, he claims there is no bad blood, and that it is all business. Cruz has articulated the same sentiment. He feels there is no beef on his end and that Vera seems to be the one who is angry.
“I’m just here one day at a time doing what I got to be to make it work every day and if this is it, this is it and he doesn’t like me. I can’t control that either. I mean, I got no problem with him. I have respect for him. I love what he’s done. I’ve seen him on the bottom of the division rise to the top How can you not respect that?” Cruz said.
Both men will be locked into the UFC Octagon on Saturday night and bad blood or not, they will be gunning to come out with the victory. Cruz, the longtime veteran and former champion against Vera, the rising star, just coming into his own. The winner will have a solid case to be made to face champion Aljamin Sterling soon, but in a division, as stacked as the UFC bantamweight division the tide is ever-changing.
