Former WEC title holders Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles battled for the next shot at current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz. Both fighters have lost to Cruz in the past.
Faber, the former featherweight champ, went five round with Cruz in July but ultimately fell short. A win over Bowles would give “The California Kid” another crack at UFC gold.
For Bowles, the fight is an opportunity to regain the momentum he lost in losing to Cruz. Bowles was forced to retire from the bout with a broken hand. The Georgia-based fighter hoped to make it three straight wins against Faber.
Faber landed the first significant strike, a right leg kick. Faber ducked under a right hand from Bowles and flurried. Bowles landed a right hand, but Faber seemed unfazed. Faber landed an uppercut. Bowles connected with a kick to the body. Faber delivered a barrage of punches and Bowles returned it. Faber landed to the body. Faber muscled Bowles against the cage, but ate a knee in the process. Faber scored with a takedown, but Bowles threatened with a guillotine. Faber looked to posture up from inside the guard of Bowles. Bowles delivered upkicks as the round closed.
Bowles flurried to start the middle stanza. And uppercut and knee from Faber sent Bowles crashing to the mat. Bowles survived and tried to return to his feet. Faber threatened with a guillotine. Faber dropped an elbow and then latched onto a guillotine that forced Bowles to tap.
With the win, Faber earns a third fight against champion Dominick Cruz. Talking with Joe Rogan, Faber declared, “Dominick, you can run, but you can’t hide.” Faber expressed how tough Bowles was, but he wanted to showcase his hands.
Official Result: Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles by submission (guillotine choke). Round 2, 1:27
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Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.