| UFC on ESPN: Vera vs. Cruz | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ESPN: Vera vs. Cruz | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | August 13, 2022 (2022-08-13) | |||
| Venue | Pechanga Arena | |||
| City | San Diego,California, United States | |||
| Attendance | 12,804[1] | |||
| Total gate | $1,735,904.91[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ESPN: Vera vs. Cruz (also known asUFC on ESPN 41) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 13, 2022, atPechanga Arena inSan Diego, California, United States.[2]
A bantamweight bout betweenMarlon Vera and former two-timeUFC Bantamweight Champion (also formerWEC Bantamweight Champion)Dominick Cruz headlined the event.[2]
Viviane Araújo was expected to faceAlexa Grasso in a women's flyweight bout.[3] The pair was previously scheduled to meet atUFC 270, but Araújo was forced to pull out from the event due to injury.[4] In turn, Grasso pulled out due to visa issues and the bout was scrapped.[5]
A women's strawweight bout betweenYazmin Jauregui and Istela Nunes was expected to take place at the event.[6] However, Nunes withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Iasmin Lucindo.[7]
Cynthia Calvillo andNina Nunes were previously scheduled to meet in a women's flyweight bout atUFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Fiziev.[8] In turn, Nunes fell ill on the day of that event and the bout was postponed to this date.[9]
A flyweight bout betweenMalcolm Gordon and Allan Nascimento was expected to take place at this event.[10] However, Gordon pulled out in late July due to an undisclosed injury and the bout was scrapped.[11]
A women's bantamweight bout featuringAspen Ladd and2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling and formerUFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challengerSara McMann was expected to take place at the event.[12] They were supposed to fight atUFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker in June 2020, but Ladd was forced to withdraw from that event after tearing both heranterior cruciate ligament (ACL) andmedial collateral ligament (MCL) in training.[13] The pairing was once again scrapped as Laddtested positive for COVID-19 this time.[14] They were rescheduled forUFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Song on September 17.[15]
A bantamweight bout betweenYoussef Zalal and Cristian Quiñonez was expected to take the event.[16] However, Quiñonez was pulled from the fight due to allegedvisa issues which restricted his travel and was replaced by Da'Mon Blackshear.[17]
A welterweight bout betweenJason Witt and Josh Quinlan was expected to take place one week prior atUFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Hill, but it was moved to this event after Quinlan was pulled for an atypical drug finding: long-term metabolite (or M3 metabolite) of the steroiddehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) in his urine sample. They met in a catchweight of 180 pounds.[18]
FormerKSW Women's Flyweight ChampionAriane Lipski andPriscila Cachoeira were previously scheduled to meet in a flyweight bout atUFC Fight Night: Błachowicz vs. Jacaré, but the fight was cancelled after Cachoeira was suspended due to use of a diuretic.[19] They were then expected to meet atUFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Hill, but after Lipski missed weight and was not medically cleared, they were rescheduled for this event in a bantamweight bout.[20]
| Main card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Bantamweight | Marlon Vera | def. | Dominick Cruz | KO (head kick) | 4 | 2:17 | |
| Featherweight | Nate Landwehr | def. | David Onama | Decision (majority) (28–28, 29–27, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Yazmin Jauregui | def. | Iasmin Lucindo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Azamat Murzakanov | def. | Devin Clark | TKO (punches) | 3 | 1:18 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Priscila Cachoeira | def. | Ariane Lipski | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:05 | |
| Middleweight | Gerald Meerschaert | def. | Bruno Silva | Submission (guillotine choke) | 3 | 1:39 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Catchweight (120 lb) | Angela Hill | def. | Lupita Godinez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Heavyweight | Martin Buday | def. | Łukasz Brzeski | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Flyweight | Nina Nunes | def. | Cynthia Calvillo | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Lightweight | Gabriel Benítez | def. | Charlie Ontiveros | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:35 | |
| Flyweight | Tyson Nam | def. | Ode' Osbourne | KO (punches) | 1 | 2:59 | |
| Catchweight (180 lb) | Josh Quinlan | def. | Jason Witt | KO (punch) | 1 | 2:09 | |
| Bantamweight | Da'Mon Blackshear | vs. | Youssef Zalal | Draw (majority) (29–28, 28–28, 28–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[22]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to theCalifornia State Athletic Commission (CSAC). It is important to note the amounts do not include sponsor money, discretionary bonuses, viewership points or additional earnings. The total disclosed payout for the event was $1,708,000.[23]
