Marlon Vera: "I 1,000% Respect Cruz. I Stand by My Comments But I Wasn't Talking Sh*t."

[sadowolf]

He's not wrong. Dom has flashy footwork but he's always been in poor position and masked his weaknesses in the fundamentals of striking there. He'd be able to transition to level changes for his wrestling as well to mask them but against a great, sharp counterstriker with reach like Chito he was getting timed over and over

Yeeees all of this! Would've saved me some time on my long ass comment if I saw this first haha

 

[cheesus]

Chito just says what his opinions are and people take it as disses. He's just being real, I appreciate this more than people who just bite their tongue so they don't offend anyone. It's true though, Cruz fought a lot of fighters who should be fighting at flyweight and eventually switched to flyweight once the division was made in UFC.

Cruz's style isn't low level but he is just limited because he doesn't have any other style to adjust to when needed. He doesn't know how to enter without his footwork and movement, and doesn't know how to block and be defensive without using his footwork and movement. Higher level strikers will pick up on his patterns and timing because he always needs to shuffle his feet or hop in and out first before committing to strikes and his defense is always to move backwards or dip and cut to the sides. There's just holes in Cruz's style that can be exploited. Cruz would do better if he had other styles to be able to switch to so he's harder to time and predict. Both Cejudo and Chito set traps for him and used his movement against him.

He won, in my opinion he should take the high road especially against such a decorated but aging fighter. It doesn't matter what his opinion is, It's poor taste to discredit a legend of the sport citing they won because their style "is low level" and that they never fought a true "135lber" when the reality is they dominate the division for 10+ years with said style and that maybe he's lost a step in speed and reaction, which is a significant contributing factor. If Chito fought Cruz 10 years his younger we very likely wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[bloodyknuck]

That head kick was timed perfectly- and he's right- fundamental defense is well.. fundamental.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

this. if it was so low-level, then why was he winning the fight and made it into the 4th round. doesn't hold water.

Vera fans will tell you "it's because it's Vera's style to lose until he can win"

 

[Sasha]

His explanation is appreciated.
That kick didn't just randomly shatter cruz' nose, and I guess that's what Chito meant, that Dom's way of fighting exposes him to what happened.
Also he seems to genuinely respect Dom.

 

[Hitdepruns]

He won, in my opinion he should take the high road especially against such a decorated but aging fighter. It doesn't matter what his opinion is, It's poor taste to discredit a legend of the sport citing they won because their style "is low level" and that they never fought a true "135lber" when the reality is they dominate the division for 10+ years with said style and that maybe he's lost a step in speed and reaction, which is a significant contributing factor. If Chito fought Cruz 10 years his younger we very likely wouldn't be having this discussion.

Exactly. I think Chito would have been punching and kicking the air for 5 rounds but we will never know. He should have stick to the first part of the interview since there is no need to discuss a 37 year old guy technique. At 37 your body is already a shadow of your prime.

 

[rjmbrd]

And he's clearly wrong. Just because it may not be traditional, it doesn't mean it's low level obviously.

Hop skip jump-doo is not a good base for MMA. It legit tore up Cruz's body. Doing nonstop skippy stip-step lateral movements and hops is a great way to destroy the ligaments in your feet and knees.

This was never a sustainable style.

Its confusing and has absolutely befuddled some guys, but that shit isn't going to fly in modern MMA. Cruz largely fought little guys who would go on to be 125lbs fighters.

Cody absolutely styled on him, Cejudo smashed him and Chito just kicked his face in. Doing it all wrong as a style doesn't really work against elite fighters the last 5-10 years.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

His explanation is appreciated.
That kick didn't just randomly shatter cruz' nose, and I guess that's what Chito meant, that Dom's way of fighting exposes him to what happened.
Also he seems to genuinely respect Dom.

it's still dumb. you cannot have a flawless style. Vera's style exposes him to be outpointed, but he still doesn't change that even though it's happened to him already.

 

[Substance Abuse]

He won, in my opinion he should take the high road especially against such a decorated but aging fighter. It doesn't matter what his opinion is, It's poor taste to discredit a legend of the sport citing they won because their style "is low level" and that they never fought a true "135lber" when the reality is they dominate the division for 10+ years with said style and that maybe he's lost a step in speed and reaction, which is a significant contributing factor. If Chito fought Cruz 10 years his younger we very likely wouldn't be having this discussion.

I agree. What Chito is saying can be true, as well as the fact that Cruz is a shell of himself and his style isn't nearly as effective when impacted by age and injuries. Chito's traps and timing set up that finish, but Cruz was also starting to slow down. Chito very well may have finished Cruz if they fought in Cruz' prime, maybe not.

As for Chito mentioning flyweights and smaller fighters competing at bantamweight, who cares? Cruz was dominant over the top fighters in his weight class in his era, and that's all you can ask for from fighters. If you look at the wins within proper context, they're good.

Vera is free to speak his mind. I'm not a fan of his personality, but I do appreciate him being honest and not omitting anything for anyone else. He's done other things that make me view him in a negative light before the Cruz conversations started which were more egregious in my eyes.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Hop skip jump-doo is not a good base for MMA. It legit tore up Cruz's body. Doing nonstop skippy stip-step lateral movements and hops is a great way to destroy the ligaments in your feet and knees.

This was never a sustainable style.

Its confusing and has absolutely befuddled some guys, but that shit isn't going to fly in modern MMA. Cruz largely fought little guys who would go on to be 125lbs fighters.

Cody absolutely styled on him, Cejudo smashed him and Chito just kicked his face in. Doing it all wrong as a style doesn't really work against elite fighters the last 5-10 years.

it worked on PED TJ and people were acting like TJ was a killing machine at that time. TJ is also an all time great BW. i don't know how you can say it won't fly in MMA when a past prime Dom was winning the majority of the fight.

 

[rjmbrd]

it worked on PED TJ and people were acting like TJ was a killing machine at that time. TJ is also an all time great BW. i don't know how you can say it won't fly in MMA when a past prime Dom was winning the majority of the fight.

He got a controversial split decision, so take from that what you will. He was able to eek by it that time.

That same year, 2016, Cody would absolutely embarrass Dom and style on him. We can't say his signature career win is TJ, but just months later he got out classed by Cody because he was past his prime.

My point is you cannot consistently beat ranked modern bantamweights, or even fighters of the last 10 years, with that style. Dom didn't and couldn't.

 

[Sasha]

it's still dumb. you cannot have a flawless style. Vera's style exposes him to be outpointed, but he still doesn't change that even though it's happened to him already.

Don't count on me to defend his intelligence lol.
You're probably right, but I find it good that he "corrected the record" regarding what sounded like very disrespectful comments after the fight.
It might be dumb, but at least it seems he didn't mean to spit on dom's corpse.

It's also, of course, always easier to brag "I totally knew I was going to get him, and how" after you just won though.

What I wanted to say is that he sounds less like a total douche to me, after reading that ITW.

 

[Final Say]

Chito is right, his assessment of Dom’s skills is correct and he proved it in live action.

 

[Alphakennybody20]

Vera fans will tell you "it's because it's Vera's style to lose until he can win"

Dom fans will tell you he was up 4-0, piecing chito up, and on his way to cruising a decision if he didnt get knocked out.

In reality, it was 2-1 with chito taking over the fight completely for the last 2 rounds. While dom got dropped in every round but one, getting dropped 4 times in total. Dom also barely touched chito, just did a lot of flailing… He did work the legs well though.

 

[Tapioca Cold]

Then quit fighting guys that are 'low level' and prove yourself! That doesn't even make sense. Bragging about beating someone who is subpar? Stfu dude.

I like Vera bit that don't make sense.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Dom fans will tell you he was up 4-0, piecing chito up, and on his way to cruising a decision if he didnt get knocked out.

In reality, it was 2-1 with chito taking over the fight completely for the last 2 rounds. While dom got dropped in every round but one, getting dropped 4 times in total. Dom also barely touched chito, just did a lot of flailing… He did work the legs well though.

How can it be 2-1 Dom with "chito taking over the fight completely for the last 2 rounds"?

Just curious.

 

[Alphakennybody20]

How can it be 2-1 Dom with "chito taking over the fight completely for the last 2 rounds"?

Just curious.

4th and 5th

 

[Substance Abuse]

4th and 5th

 

[Alphakennybody20]

What bro, cruz got dropped twice in the 4th, was slowing down and chito was coming on hard.

No matter what with the way the fight was going he wasn’t winning the 4th, nor was he making it to the 25th minute, he was going to sleep sooner or later.

 

[Substance Abuse]

What bro, cruz got dropped twice in the 4th, was slowing down and chito was coming on hard.

No matter what with the way the fight was going he wasn’t winning the 4th, nor was he making it to the 25th minute, he was going to sleep sooner or later.

You said 5th though.

I predicted Chito to stop Cruz. I'm not saying he wouldn't have stopped him, bro.