UFC on ESPN 40 - Santos vs. Hill --- UFC 278 - Usman vs. Edwards 2
UFC on ESPN 41: Vera vs. Cruz (also known as UFC San Diego) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on August 13, 2022, at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, United States.Fight card
Main card (ESPN / ESPN+)Bantamweight Marlon Vera vs. Dominick Cruz
Featherweight Nate Landwehr vs. David Onama
Women's Strawweight Yazmin Jauregui vs. Iasmin Lucindo
Light Heavyweight Devin Clark vs. Azamat Murzakanov
Women's Bantamweight Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Middleweight Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bruno Silva Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+)Catchweight (120 lb) Angela Hill vs. Lupita Godinez
Heavyweight Martin Buday vs. Łukasz Brzeski
Women's Flyweight Cynthia Calvillo vs. Nina Nunes
Lightweight Gabriel Benítez vs. Charlie Ontiveros
Flyweight Ode' Osbourne vs. Tyson Nam
Catchweight (180 lb) Jason Witt vs. Josh Quinlan
Bantamweight Youssef Zalal vs. Da'Mon Blackshear BackgroundA bantamweight bout between Marlon Vera and former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion (also former WEC Bantamweight Champion) Dominick Cruz is expected to headline the event.
Viviane Araújo was expected to face Alexa Grasso in a women's flyweight bout. The pair was previously scheduled to meet at UFC 270, but Araújo was forced to pull out from the event due to injury. In turn, Grasso pulled out due to visa issues and the bout was scrapped.
A women's strawweight bout between Yazmin Jauregui and Istela Nunes was expected to take place at the event. However, Nunes withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Iasmin Lucindo.
Cynthia Calvillo and Nina Nunes were previously scheduled to meet in a women's flyweight bout at UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Fiziev. In turn, Nunes fell ill on the day of that event and the bout was postponed to this date.
A flyweight bout between Malcolm Gordon and Allan Nascimento was expected to take place at this event. However, Gordon pulled out in late July due to an undisclosed injury and it's still unclear if the UFC will try to find a replacement.
A women's bantamweight bout featuring Aspen Ladd and 2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling and former UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challenger Sara McMann was expected to take place at the event. They were supposed to fight at UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Hooker in June 2020, but Ladd was forced to withdraw from that event after tearing both her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in training. The pairing was once again scrapped as Ladd tested positive for COVID-19 this time. They were rescheduled for UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Song on September 17.
A bantamweight bout between Youssef Zalal and Cristian Quiñonez was expected to take the event. However, Quiñonez was pulled from the fight due to alleged visa issues which restricted his travel and was replaced by Da'Mon Blackshear.
A welterweight bout between Jason Witt and Josh Quinlan was expected to take place one week prior at UFC 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 steroid dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) in his urine sample.
Former KSW Women's Flyweight Champion Ariane Lipski and Priscila Cachoeira were previously scheduled to meet in a flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Błachowicz vs. Jacaré, but the fight was cancelled after Cachoeira was suspended due to use of a diuretic. They were then expected to meet at UFC 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. Aug 12 - updated fight card & background
