UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Dom was looking at Chito like a hot meal in that interview. Clearly asserted himself as the alpha and dominated the entire exchange from start to finish. Chito sensed this and was ultimately submissive in his verbal and non-expressions. He looked like a beaten step child transported back to his childhood.

That's not to say the hungry young lion cannot defeat the time tested, battle scarred alpha. But expect Cruz to assert his dominance in the octagon early. He will go to the body and expose the betas soft underbelly before attempting to snatch the neck in the later rounds. As it is in the Serengeti so it shall be in the cage. Only one of these majestic beasts will prosper.

* Edited at 08.12.2022, 7:27 AM ET *

Dom has always been a good talker, doesn’t mean he’s gonna win the fight 

Saw the same things brother. Chito's body language screamed uncomfortable. I'm no expert but I've had to take some classes on it for my job and he was setting off sirens if you know what to look for.

But as @KyleH said, they're just talking. Yes, they're talking about a fight but these aren't normal people and it's a whole different ball game in the cage.

I've been using this word all week though, and that interview was the icing on the cake for how CEREBRAL Dominic Cruz is. You ******s need to look up that word and not just read over it if you don't genuinely know what it means. All Chito had to say about Dom was "he moves a lot, so I'm going to have to move a lot". Cruz had an entire breakdown of Chito ready for the camera, and it wasn't even done negatively. There's no such thing as a fight Dominic Cruz isn't prepared for.

Who's going to have the better game plan? My bet is on Dom. 

I think a win over Cruz in any fashion sets Chito up for a title shot. I don't know how you could deny someone on an 8-2 run since 2019 with 5-6 finishes and who's only loses are to the current #10 and #3 ranked fighter in his division (and most people think he beat Yadong).

I think OMalley loses to Yan, but you never know. I don't think Chito can beat Aljo, but what if Aljo somehow loses to Pillashaw? I think Chito could beat Pillashaw no questions asked. Even if O'Malley loses, he's only a rebound fight against Sandhagen away from a title shot, especially if Chito is champion.

If you can't see the point of this post, I'm trying to set up Chito vs. O'Malley 2 for the title in my head. It needs to happen. We as fans deserve a different ending to any fight that truly ends via injury if it can be done. We'd need the starts to align a little more to get this fight, because O'Malley is a step behind Chito right now in terms of momentum, but there's definitely a potential path for this to happen. 

When UFC first came about I thought there was no limit they fight till someone gets a finish, like the first few cards anyway 

So continuing to pour over stats and having now fully re-watched the fight against Munhoz, the one thing I think Cruz struggles with throughout the fight is Chito's reach. He hasn't fought anyone this long in over a decade. It's only 2.5in for Chito, but on re-watch Cruz used every bit of his 3in over Munhoz to win that fight. A lot of their exchanges was Dom landing clean and Munhoz hitting air. 

The 4th and 5th rounds are Chito's to win. He needs to tire Cruz out, who despite having good cardio is 37 and hasn't seen a 4th round of a fight in 6 years. All Chito needs to do is score a knockdown at some point in the first 3 rounds and he has a very good chance to win this fight. I say this because I think his chances of winning the last two rounds are demonstrably high considering all the variables (assuming FGTD).

I said it a few pages back, but I have a very strong feeling this is going to be a split decision for somebody. I can absolutely see a fight where Cruz clearly wins 2 rounds, Chito clearly wins 2 but we have 1 weird round that's hard to score (whether it's from a knockdown, takedowns with control time, limited total number of strikes, etc). As much as I don't want to think this will happen, if it comes to a split, I think the hometown boy gets the nod.

There is a changing of guard happening in the bantamweight division.  Dillashaw/Cruz/Aldo represent the old dogs who are all former champions while Aljo/Vera/Merab represent the new breed.  I don't recall a time where each upcoming top 5 fight in a division represented two different generations between opponents.

I also don't know what will happen if both Aljo and Merab win their upcoming fights.  They are good friends and training partners so what will happen there?  

* Edited at 08.12.2022, 8:34 AM ET *

Aljo has said that if Merab is up for a title shot he would vacate the belt and move up to Featherweight.

foppa420 chito earning the titleshot before aldo?

the most alpha thing that a fighter can do is KTFO the opponent. vera is equatorian, and cruz is a master of talking. cheering for cruz on this one, but saying that he will win because of this exchange is pure ********

Devin Clark looked too good against a giant William Knight to be getting slept on the way he is right now 

William Knight isn't very good though, so nothing to be said there...But I do agree, people are sleeping on Clark this week, I won't be one of em.

Chito gonna KO Cruz

How do you guys rate Bruno Silva in his fight against Andrew Sanchez? he got taken down 7 times there. Just wondering how he will perform against GM3

Wow lipski and Benitez made weight no problem. Those were the two I was most worried about on the scales 

I picked Clark against knight but I don’t rate knight at all Tbh. Azamat should Ko Devin

Quinlan lost all his muscles now that he’s off the sauce

* Edited at 08.12.2022, 12:19 PM ET *