Author: Ben Fowlkes

Filed under: UFC

LAS VEGAS — This is the UFC 132 live blog for Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Cruz (17-1) is making his UFC debut in a bantamweight title defense against the one person who has defeated him. Faber (25-4), who made quick work of Cruz back at WEC 26 in March 2007 with a guillotine choke, is challenging for the title after winning his UFC debut against Eddie Wineland at UFC 128.

The live blog is below.

Round 2: Faber gets in close to start the round and tries to tie Cruz out, but Cruz keeps slipping out of his grasp. Cruz is the aggressor now, chasing Faber around the cage. Good left hook from Cruz, followed by a stinging two-punch combo. Faber lands a good right that knocks Cruz off-balance, but Cruz seems none the worse for wear. A ‘Let’s go Faber!’ chant erupts inside the MGM Grand. Cruz feints him back with low kick set-ups, but can’t get anything off. Faber reaches for a single-leg, then gives it up and eats a left hook. Kicks coming in bunches now from Cruz, to the legs and the head. Cruz floats inside and pops Faber’s head back with a jab. Faber bulls inside and drops Cruz with a short hook. Cruz recovers quickly and is back on his feet, then puts Faber down with a double-leg moments later, but can’t keep him on his back for long. Cruz feints with low kicks then jacks Faber with a punch combo just before the horn. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Cruz.

Round 3: Cruz dances in with a jab and Faber hooks him back. Faber wings a big right hand and Cruz nearly gets him down with a whizzer. Cruz jabs and then is gone by the time Faber fires off a counter. An uppercut from Cruz pops Faber’s head back. Faber moves in for a body lock but gets shrugged off. Faber ducks under a Cruz right and throws him down from behind. Cruz rolls and takes top position, but Faber scrambles up and Cruz has to let him so as not to get rolled over. They both fire off strikes as soon as they hit the feet, and the crowd roars in appreciation of this incredible pace. Left hook lands for Faber, and Cruz answers with a jab. Cruz digs for the takedown in the final seconds of the round, but can’t get it. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Faber.

Round 4: Cruz gets off a good right hook and a kick to the body to back Faber up. Faber catches him with his feet too close together and smashes a right hand to his cheek. Cruz stumbles and then takes a seat. Faber charges in and Cruz tries for a takedown as he’s scrambling to his feet, but Faber shrugs him off. Cruz misses with an uppercut and then lands a right. His punches seem to have slowed just a bit. Faber comes in with a right and Cruz ducks under looking for a takedown. He trips Faber to the mat, but Faber pops up as if he’s spring-loaded. The pace slows a bit approaching the final minute. Cruz feints and then lands a nice surprise right. Cruz shoots low but Faber steps out of it. They end clinching against the fence. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Faber. But man, these rounds are all very, very close.

Round 5: Faber’s cornerman sends him out for the final round with passionate pleas to go be a champion. They go right to work again, and Cruz tries for a takedown that leads to him briefly taking Faber’s back before they end up back in the clinch. Faber tries a knee and Cruz tosses him off, but nearly gets himself caught in a guillotine looking for Faber’s legs. Faber comes in with a hook and Cruz ducks under for a takedown. He gets it, but as soon as Faber’s back hits the mat he’s on the move and scrambling up. Cruz is just a move or two behind, and can’t hold on to the slippery Faber. Cruz wings a body punch and Faber sticks him with a right hook. Cruz takes a deep breath and Faber tries a kick to the head that misses. Cruz trips him to the mat, but Faber is up in a flash. Another trip takedown for Cruz, and again Faber is up. There’s less than 20 seconds left, and this one is going to come down to the wire. Cruz tries one last shot, but gets stonewalled against the fence. The horn sounds, and Faber immediately sticks his hand in the air to declare himself the winner. Cruz gets to his feet and does the same. Somebody’s going home disappointed. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Cruz.

Dominick Cruz def. Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 48-47)

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Filed under: UFC

LAS VEGAS — Don’t be alarmed by that sound you hear when UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Urijah Faber end up in the same room together. That’s just two alpha dogs chipping away at each other with every muted comment and every sidelong glance.

Like when Faber says he hasn’t spent much time thinking about Cruz since he submitted him back in 2007, “but he was thinking about me a lot — almost kind of weird.”

Chip, chip, chip.

Or when Faber launches into a lengthy explanation of his viral video effort with musician D.J. Paul in the lead-up to his fight, and Cruz follows it by leaning into the microphone to say simply, “No, I haven’t seen the whack videos.”

Chip, chip, chip.

For Faber, needling Cruz seems more like a pastime than anything else. He does it just for fun, because he can, and sure, also because something in him can’t allow this kid to walk around the UFC belt around his waist and a smirking scowl on his face without tossing off a remark here and there to bring him back down to earth.

While Faber said he thinks Cruz’s animosity toward him is rooted in jealousy, Cruz, not surprisingly, had his own interpretation.

“That’s just his big head talking again,” he said of Faber. “It’s far from that. It’s more along the lines of, I’ve been a champion for a while now, and right after I win the title it’s questions about losing to Urijah Faber and not questions about how well I did winning my title. I’m ready for those questions to stop and I’m ready to prove that I’m the champion that I am on Saturday night.”

Maybe the worst part about dealing with Faber’s verbal slights is that they’re rarely as direct or even as insulting as the ones you hear in most rivalry fights. He might question whether Cruz is more annoying than dominating, but other than that, his quips are the kind that slip in under a person’s defenses and fester there for years.

That’s why Cruz said he’s still irked by Faber’s remark to him after their first fight four years ago, which he felt was a bit of an unnecessary turn of the knife after it was all over.

“I don’t think I was rubbing it in,” Faber said. “I was just kind of like, ‘Good fight. Try again, buddy.’ …But he knows what I meant. He was right.”

Not mean or derisive, exactly. But not nice, either. That’s Faber’s style when it comes to his rivals. Cruz takes the more direct path, or else simmers in silence as he glares a hole in “The California Kid” from across the room.

Even though he’s the champ, it’s not hard to see that Cruz needs this fight more than Faber. He’s the one still trying to carve his name into MMA history. Faber’s already been there and done that. He could retire tomorrow and be remembered as a pioneer of the lighter weight classes.

But then, he’s not one to miss out on such a golden chance to tweak a rival’s ego, or smash his face.

“The cool thing about this fight, the reason it’s a grudge match and all that, is you put Dominick and I in the same little neighborhood and we probably would have ended up fighting each other,” Faber explained. “His bad attitude and me not taking crap, and me being the badder man, that’s what this is about. Like-minded people, we’re going to butt heads when it comes to the fight game and see who’s boss.”

And on and on it goes — chip, chip, chipping away — until they finally wind up in the same cage together again. Then it will be time to put away the chisels and go to work with the hammers.

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