Jesús Omar de la Cruz, simply known as Omar de la Cruz (born November 5, 1979 in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

), is a Dominican

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. Cruz is most known for his stint in

Bellator Fighting Championships Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Global. ...

, fighting in its welterweight division.

Mixed martial arts

Omar is a fourth degree Black Belt in

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

, and has been practicing the Korean martial art for 16 years, competing mostly in full-contact competitions. In 2001 he was introduced to

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, rising steadily to the rank of Brown Belt under Dominican 1st degree black belt Abraham Tabar. Cruz currently trains at his own gym, Fight Training Academy in his hometown of Santo Domingo, the only mixed martial arts gym in the country. Omar also acts as instructor in four other gyms. Omar had his first professional mixed martial arts bout on March 10, 2007, at the event Alianza Nacional Full Contact against Team ROC's Seth Horn, winning the fight via submission. On August 29, 2009, Omar de la Cruz was promoted to brown belt under his instructor, Abraham Tabar. On November 5, 2016, Omar de la Cruz was promoted to black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under his instructor, Abraham Tabar.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Omar was signed by

and is competing in their welterweight division. Cruz is participating in the tournament that began on April 10, 2009. Omar's first opponent was the previously undefeated Victor Meza, who was coming in on a nine-fight undefeated winning streak. Cruz won via unanimous decision after dominating in all three rounds. Cruz's second fight for Bellator would be against former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

middleweight champion

Dave Menne David Jeremy Menne (born July 29, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS. Background Menne was born in Minneapolis, M ...

, the fighter with the most extensive background Cruz would face to the date. The fight was a semi-final bout in the tournament and took place at

Bellator 7 2009 in Bellator MMA was the first installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started broadcasting April 3, 2009, through an exclusive television agreement with ESPN Deportes. The episodes had a one-day ...

. Omar traveled to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to train with personal friend,

Brandon Vera Brandon Michael Vera (born October 10, 1977), or also known by his ring name as The Truth, is a Filipino-American (of Italian heritage) retired mixed martial artist where he was the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Champion and the 2005 WEC Heavyweigh ...

in preparation for the match.Criollo se abre paso en artes marciales mixtas
DiarioLibre.com (2009-04-18). Retrieved on 2012-01-06. The bout began with Menne rushing in on Cruz, clinching and eventually landing on top after a takedown. Omar worked to his guard, effectively defending punches coming from the top. Managing to get to his feet some moments later, Omar landed a straight on Menne's chin sending him to the canvas. Menne worked

butterfly guard The guard is a ground grappling position in which one combatant has their back to the ground while attempting to control the other combatant using their legs. In pure grappling combat sports, the guard is considered an advantageous position, ...

, eventually prompting de la Cruz to get up, then surprised him with vicious dropping fists from the top, causing serious damage. Impressively, Menne managed to get up and continue, only to receive kicks and punches resulting in a technical knockout in the first round. In the Bellator welterweight finals, which took place at

Bellator 11 2009 in Bellator MMA was the first installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started broadcasting April 3, 2009, through an exclusive television agreement with ESPN Deportes. The episodes had a one-day ...

, Omar fought

Lyman Good Lyman Merrill Good (born May 26, 1985), also known as "American Cyborg", is an American mixed martial artist. He is perhaps best known for his time spent with Bellator, where he was the inaugural Bellator Welterweight Champion. Good currently co ...

. Cruz was defeated by Good via TKO early in the first round, losing his bid for

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

's welterweight title.

Sengoku

At Sengoku 13, Omar entered the Welterweight Grand Prix, after suffering from food poisoning and fever since arriving to Japan his team decided not to cancel the fight and after struggling to make weight and not being able to recover from the weight cut he lost to

Keita Nakamura is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and grappler currently competing in the Welterweight division of RIZIN. A professional competitor since 2003, he has formerly competed for the UFC, World Victory Road, Pancrase, Shooto, DREAM, Vale ...

via TKO in the second round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 6–3 ,

, TKO (punches) , World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:53 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Jason Potter , Submission (armbar) , Alianza National Full Contact 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:16 ,

, Dominican Republic , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Aaron Barrios , Decision (unanimous) , Total Combat 27 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Marcelo Brito , Decision (split) , MMAC: The Revolution , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Seth Horn , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Alianza National Full Contact 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:38 ,

, Dominican Republic ,

References

External links

Bellator Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Omar De La Living people 1979 births Dominican Republic practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Dominican Republic male taekwondo practitioners Dominican Republic male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Santo Domingo