Marlon Vera celebrates after his TKO victory over Frankie Edgar in their bantaweight bout during the UFC 268 event at Madison Square Garden on November 06, 2021 in New York City. Mike Stobe/Getty Images/AFP
Ecuador’s Marlon Vera knocked out Dominick Cruz with a kick 2:17 into the fourth round to win the bantamweight main event in the UFC Fight Night card on Saturday in San Diego.
In an action-packed bout, Vera (20-7-1) knocked down Cruz with punches three times, but Cruz (24-4) scored the only two takedowns. The victory was Vera’s fourth in a row.
Cruz, who was fighting in his hometown, saw his two-match winning streak end despite landing more total strikes (100-63) and significant strikes (92-61).
In earlier action, Tennessee’s Nate Landwehr (16-4) eked out a majority decision win over Uganda’s David Onama (10-2). The three-round featherweight fight was scored 28-28, 29-27 and 29-27 in favor of Landwehr. Onama had the only knockdown, but Landwehr posted a 3-1 edge in takedowns.
Mexican strawweight Yazmin Jauregui (9-0) remained undefeated thanks to a unanimous-decision win over Brazil’s Iasmin Lucindo (13-5). The judges’ scores for the three-round match were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Russia’s Azamat Murzakanov (12-0) stopped South Dakota native Devin Clark (13-7) with a punch at 1:18 of the third round in their light heavyweight fight.
In an all-Brazilian bantamweight bout, Priscila Cachoeira (12-4) got a 65-second stoppage on punches against Ariane Lipski (14-8).
Wisconsin middleweight Gerald Meerschaert (35-15) prevailed by submission on a guillotine choke against Brazil’s Bruno Silva (22-8).