In the main event, two hometown heroes went face-to-face and it was more than anyone expected.
The fight went five glorious rounds with a healthy back-and-forth between both men. They both had moments where it looked like they were seconds away from finishing the fight.
But in the fourth round, seemingly out of nowhere Marlon Vera dropped Cruz with a kick to face and it was redoubtable to fight was over. And Cruz’s nose was annihilated.
UFC San Diego Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
- Marlon Vera defeated Dominick Cruz via KO, Round 4 – 2:17
- Nate Landwehr defeated David Onama via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 29-27)
- Yazmin Jauregui defeated Iasmin Lucindo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Azamat Murzakanov defeated Devin Clark via TOK, Round 3 – 1:18
- Priscila Cachoeira defeated Ariane Lipski via TKO, Round 1 – 1:05
- Gerald Meerschaert defeated Bruno Silva via submission (guillotine), Round 3 – 1:39
UFC San Diego Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT)
- Angela Hill defeated Lupita Godinez via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
- Martin Buday defeated Łukasz Brzeski via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
- Nina Nunes defeated Cynthia Calvillo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)*
- Gabriel Benitez defeated Charlie Ontiveros via TKO, Round 1 – 3:35
- Tyson Nam defeated Ode’ Osborne via KO, Round 1 – 2:59
- Josh Quinlan defeated Jason Witt via KO, Round 1 – 2:09
- Youssef Zalal vs. Da’Mon Blackshear declared a majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
*Nina Nunes, the wife of UFC champion Amanda Nunes, announced her retirement following her win over Cynthia Calvillo
UFC San Diego: Marlon Vera KO’s Dominick Cruz with a nasty kick to the face | Video
