UFC 132 Fight Card: Dominick Cruz vs Urijah Faber Head to Toe Breakdown
Bleacher Report’s Andrew Barr:
Experience:
Experience-wise, these two should be pretty evenly matched.
Both of them have captured championships within the WEC and they both defended their belts multiple times.
Neither fighter should be phased by the pressure of being the main event, as both have been in that position before (although not for the UFC).
Faber could be considered to have a slight experience advantage because Dominick is not the most dangerous fighter he’s faced, but Urijah is debatably the most dangerous opponent Cruz has ever faced.
Edge: Push
Cardio
Similar to their experience levels, these two should be pretty much dead even as far as cardio goes.
Faber and Cruz both have tremendous cardio and neither of them are strangers to going all five rounds.
If this fight were to go on forever, until one fighter finally tired, I would pick Dominick to outlast Urijah.
That is not the case, however, it is a standard five round fights and both guys have proved that they can make it five rounds without gassing.
Edge: Push
Striking
Dominick is quick on his feet and is always moving in and out of his opponents range.
If this fight stays standing, expect Cruz to use his superior movement and quickness to outclass the slower Faber. Dominick might also be able to use his striking to keep Urijah off balance, in order to set up takedowns.
Faber will have the power advantage, but neither of these guys are power strikers, so Urijah won’t be able to threaten with one punch knockout power.
Edge: Dominick Cruz
Chin
Urijah has been TKO’d before and Cruz has not.
That said, Faber has faced much more dangerous strikers than Cruz has.
Urijah went all five rounds with current featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Anyone who can do that has to have one hell of a chin.
I can’t really give Faber the advantage, though, because Cruz has never been knocked out.
Both guys have proven they can take a hell of a punch and neither of them are devastating strikers, so this one is about even.
Edge: Push
Grappling
In college, Faber competed in Division I of the NCAA. He was never champion, but in 2002 he did finish top 12. He also finished second in the University Nationals for Freestyle Wrestling.
Dominick started wrestling in the seventh grade and was very successful in wrestling throughout high school. Unfortunately, an injury stopped Cruz from wrestling in college and so he has no NCAA experience to compare to Faber’s.
Cruz and Faber both have excellent wrestling, but I think Faber is the more powerful of the two and the fact that he competed throughout college, while Cruz was unable to, should help him.
It’s possible that Dominick could use his superior quickness to gain a wrestling advantage (see Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard 2), but I’m leaning towards Urijah for this one.
Edge: Urijah Faber
Submissions
Urijah has 13 wins by submission, Cruz has one.
Faber is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has submitted black belts before. Dominick is not ranked in BJJ.
Urijah has submitted Cruz before with a guillotine choke.
I will give Dominick some credit, he has definitely improved his submission defense since his first fight with Faber. Since then he has fought some solid submission guys and not been tapped.
Edge: Urijah Faber
Winner
This is such a close fight and I’m not ashamed to say that I’m far from certain about the prediction I’ve come up with.
As I see it, this fight hinges on Faber’s ability to get it to the ground and, ultimately, I think he can do it.
Winner: Urijah Faber via Third-Round Submission