"That's a low-level style to do MMA" - Marlon Vera reiterates comments on Dominick Cruz's style, clarifies he '1000%' respects the former champion

Dominick Cruz (left) and Marlon Vera (right) [Images Courtesy:Getty]

Marlon Vera tried to further explain the seemingly inflammatory comments he made about Dominick Cruz. Vera initially made the comments at the UFC San Diego post-fight press conference where he described Cruz's style as "low level."

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the burgeoning bantamweight wanted to give a broader context to what he meant when discussing the former multi-promotion world champion.

While discussing Cruz's resume and thoughts on his style, Vera said:

"I respect 1000% him for what he did. I said this in the press conference, he make bantamweight cool. He was a name that brought up the bantamweights... I'm gonna explain a little bit when I say the low level thing. Talking about fighting like fighting technique. Doesn't matter what your style is."

Vera continued:

"We've got a guy like [Israel] Adesanya... He has a real solid base. His technique is sharp as f*ck but he's really flashy. With Dominick the movement that he does, me and my coach we think that's a low-level style to do MMA. It's just our opinion. It's a fact maybe we prove it because of the way we finish him."

Watch the latest edtion of The MMA Hour below (Vera interview starts at 3:03:30):

Vera won his last fight by way of a fourth-round headkick knockout that will surely be a knockout of the year contender. Cruz was ahead on the scorecards going into the fourth, but 'Chito's finishing ability ensured that the Ecuadorian enjoyed the last laugh.

Nobody has ever done this to Dominick Cruz, absolutely nobody.

This was a statement and a half from Marlon Vera.

What next for Chito? #UFCSanDiego

https://t.co/zF7WMBjOIG

What's next for Marlon Vera?

Marlon Vera is the fifth-ranked contender at bantamweight as of this writing. All the contenders ranked above him have fights lined up, so it largely feels like a matter of seeing who emerges victorious across several key bantamweight bouts and going from there.

No.1-ranked contender Petr Yan takes on No.13-ranked UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley at UFC 280 in October.

Sugar Sean O’Malley is ready for #UFC280 are you?

Sugar Sean is +305 against Petr Yan 👀 https://t.co/NF4qblbY6i

Second-ranked contender T.J. Dillashaw vies for the bantamweight world title against reigning champion Aljamain Sterling, also at UFC 280.

No.3-ranked 135 pounder José Aldo clashes with No.6-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili this weekend at UFC 278. Plus, No.4-ranked Cory Sandhagen will test his skills against No.10-ranked bantamweight contender Song Yadong in a September UFC Fight Night main event.

'Chito' fits well into this company and the 135-pound division continues to be a very entertaining weight category.