Author: Michael Cahill

UFC 132 Fight card will be reliant on a big main event

The UFC 132 fight card needs to be good. It doesn’t need as much sizzle in the middle, as it does pop at the top.

The UFC has been struggling lately to find themselves a compelling main event. While the undercard always excites the UFC heads, who peruse the internet and are up on all the great fighters that have yet to be discovered. However, the mainstream crowd, which orders the pay-per-views and increases the visibility of the product, has been underwhelmed by the recent rash of boring main events.

25 Athletes Who Were Terrible Actors   

The closest the UFC has come to a compelling main event was George St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields. Even that main event, which was far more competitive than the public anticipated, was overshadowed by some of the smaller fights on the card.

For Cruz and Faber the pressure is on to deliver. Their result will benefit not only the product, but themselves as well. In the UFC, like most other businesses you are only as good as the money you can bring to the company. A big fight for Cruz and Faber could help them write their ticket into future main events.

Sometimes the title picture in the UFC gets crowded, but with a strong fight(and most believe it will be) they can find themselves ahead of their peers in terms of the cash they are commanding for fights.

That might mean a lot more than a title in the long run.  

UFC 132 is about the rebirth of a great fighter

Tito Ortiz has been a great fighter in his career, but ask anyone who knows him and they’ll tell you he’s been about a lot more recently than great fights. His very public relationship to adult film star Jenna Jameson was anything but pleasant. With legal issues and a rash of injuries, Tito Ortiz is back with one goal in mind: winning.

According to an interview he gave the Orlando Sentinel, he taken drama on the chin and is still standing.

25 Athletes Who Were Terrible Actors  

Ortiz says:

Any attention I get, I want it to be positive reinforcement, no more than that. On my twitter @titoortiz, of course, I stopped talking about personal stuff. I no longer talk about that and no longer will talk about that stuff because I don’t think I should air out my dirty laundry ever and I made the mistake of doing that. Being alone and having no one to talk to, you fall into those mistakes. I’ve learned from those mistakes and I won’t let it happen again. Right now it’s strictly about my fight career.

It’s a little hokey to believe that a fighter as gifted as Ortiz can find inspiration from personal heartache, but it feels as if he’s got a sense of what is important.

His opponent at UFC 132 is Ryan Bader and there is no question that Ortiz will have plenty to deal with. Bader is a very vicious fighter, and years younger. Ortiz is 36, and in his twilight, so I’m not going to trust his ability to close out a quality fighter like Bader. The good news for Ortiz is that if he loses it won’t be because of injuries or outside distractions.

HE will have finally given himself a fair shot. 

UFC 132 main event with come armed with hatred and aggression

There are several things that make a UFC main event compelling. The first is two top notch fighters evenly matched. For Dominick Faber and Urijah Faber that is taken care of. One added component that makes their fight first rate is a little bit of hatred between these two fighters.

In the world of handshakes and hugs, it’s a change of pace to have two fighters that don’t seem to like one another. For proof look no further than a story published on Heavy.com. There Cruz had some unfavorable words for Faber.

25 Athletes Who Were Terrible Actors

Cruz said:

It’s one thing when a guy wins and another thing when a guy loses. I’ve been a good sport on both ends of it, so we’ll see how he reacts when he loses. I’ll be cool regardless.

I have a hard time being enemies with people. Dominick has made it easy; he’s got an interesting combo of throwing himself pity parties and feeling sorry for himself, but also giving himself a lot of credit for little things. What’s going to happen at the end of this (comes down to) can he handle another loss and can he be cool?

That “another loss” that Cruz is referring too goes back to the last time that Faber fought Cruz and lost. The favorite has to be Cruz in this fight as well. I tend to believe that history speaks for itself. 

The anticipation can begin for UFC 132. Less than a week out from what should be a great fight card there is plenty to talk about, but none more important than Cruz vs. Faber.

As the UFC tends to do, they gave fight fans a great main event. Dominick Cruz stands in with a height advantage and one of the more durable athletes in his weight class. There is no question he knows that time is on his side.

For Faber, the name of the game is quick victory. He might have the fastest hands in the UFC, and as long as he can get close to make up for a two inch difference in height, he’ll look to end this thing well before it goes to decision.

The good news for UFC fans is this fight isn’t the only fight on the card that looks compelling. We are going to break down every fight on the card and in every which way.

So, if you haven’t got your fix, and are looking to immerse yourself in UFC 132 for all the news and updates leading to the main event, stay with Bleacher Report.  

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com