Post UFC SD Vera vs Cruz

 5 takeaways from UFC San Diego: Vera vs Cruz

1. Let’s keep on keeping it real. ‘Chito’ Vera will lose every round, but he’ll send you to the hospital. In this particular fight Chito arguably lost the first 3 rounds, if not 2 of 3, but none of that mattered. He met opportunity with violent intent, putting Cruz down with a left kick to the face. 

   If we start with round 1, Chito was definitely out struck, but landed a solid left hand knocking Cruz to the canvas. Round 2 starts off with a sneaky front kick from Chito, but once again he is out-landed. Round 3 was the closest round with Cruz starting strong, but Chito shined with mid fight adjustments. He shifted his head off the center line as Cruz backed him up and met Cruz with counter shots of his own. Ultimately his ability to make Cruz miss is what may have won him this round. 

   After stinging Cruz from the left side in round 1, then from the right side in rounds 2 & 3, he came back to the left side in round 4. This head kick was a brilliant read, considering the tendency Cruz has to bob and weave with his head down. This time he bobbed right into a left foot, breaking his nose into the shape of a question mark. Ouch. Key takeaway - With 5 rounds, Chito has plenty of time to catch you and put you away. 

2. What. A. Fight. What David Onama and Nate Landwehr were able to get done in only 3 rounds was incredible to say the least. Onama out struck Nate in round 1, capitalizing on a savage right hand, sending Nate to the canvas. He appeared to be knocked out for a second, before jumping back into the fight and putting Onama on the defensive. Round 2 was all Nate, controlling Onama with blast double legs and heavy top game, hence his ridiculous nickname. This round deserved a 10-8. 

   Round 3 was where the real magic happened though, scoring this round determined the end result. Nate controlled the first two minutes, landing several strong punches and knees. Onama looked dead tired and ready to quit, but Nate’s antics let him back into the brawl. Onama came back strong with several vicious right hands, almost finishing Nate near the bitter end. I watched this round three times over, originally scoring it for Onama. After my third watch I still wanted to lean draw 28-28, but maybe just so I could see a re-match. Only one of the three judges agreed with me, giving Nate a majority decision win. 

   Key Takeaway - Again… What. A. Fight. Still looking forward to more David Onama, but I’m worried about his gas tank. Nate landwehr on the other hand, he deserves his flowers, he made this an event that will be very hard to forget. 

3. We’ll keep this one short and sweet. Priscila Cachoeira! Where you been at girl? That was the most fun you can have in 60 seconds, Cachoeira met Ariane Lipski up against the cage and hands were thrown. Cachoeira ended up putting Lipski down with a stunning straight right hand and the rest was elementary. Ground and pound, hope the ref stops the fight. Key takeaway - y’all must have forgot, Cachoeira went in a 2-1 underdog and woke us all up. She’s now won 4 of her last 5 fights. Thank you for that. 

4. Angela ‘Overkill’ Hill gave us another good fight, although I doubt she wanted this fight to be as close as it was, call it a hunch. Her opponent, Loopy Godinez gave her everything she could handle, landing very strong punches throughout the 3 round affair. Hill came out on top with better movement and crisper shots. I would say that Hill could have done a little bit more to seal the deal, but I have no idea how Loopy took those 2 step-in knees up against the cage. She took them right on the chin and acted like nothing happened. That may have been the most impressive part of the fight. 

5. Honorable mentions: 

a. Tyson Nam is still a beast, Michael Bisping wasn’t kidding when he said it’s too early to score the first round. 

He threw a thunderous right hand to send his opponent rolling backwards and expertly finished it with a left hand as his opponent was trying to come back up for air. 

b. He’s undefeated and it was his UFC debut. Thank you Josh Quinlan for being a class act. As his opponent perilously dove in for a ‘what are you thinking’ knee or something, he was met with a bullying left hook (you really need to hear the sound of the grunt n’ punch as they replayed it in real time). Ouch. On the follow up to the canvas though, Quinlan held back and rolled over. This is how it’s done. Very classy self awareness.

c. Sheesh. That was very violent and very harsh Mr. Benitez. You must really study your Dundasso.