We waited for what seemed like a lifetime to finally see Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz square off at UFC 132 for the bantamweight title.
The bantamweight division is arguably the most entertaining division in all of MMA. Guys with great cardio, fast hands and crazy skills dominate this division, and you can always expect a good five rounds of action.
Both Faber and Cruz have become the face of this division, and with a couple more wins by Faber, they could be the trilogy the bantamweight division needs to become huge.
Faber and Cruz put on a great show as the first 135-pound main event in UFC and the first 135-pound title fight in UFC history. I thought the fight could have gone either way (I gave Faber a 48-47), and of course, one judge had to score it 50-45 to mess it up.
Cruz is now definitely the dominant force in the bantamweight division. Cruz has avenged his only loss and has won his last four title bouts. Those four wins come over Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez, Scott Jorgensen and now Faber.
That isn’t padding your resume, that is about as great of a last four fights as you can get.
Faber use to be the posterboy of the lighter weight classes in the WEC and still is to an extent in the UFC. You have a guy whose personality outside the cage is chill, and inside the cage, he can beat you anyway he wants it seems like.
Faber is the former WEC featherweight champion for good reason and has made himself into a household name synonymous with the lighter division.
A trilogy between these two would be epic. It’s not like Cruz completely dominated Faber (I don’t find takedowns that last a nanosecond as dominant), and their second bout was great.
Faber pulls in a lot of sponsorship money from Form Athletics and Amp Energy Drink, now Cruz will be getting more shots at it.
With Faber slowly going past his prime, he’s the veteran no one can hate. Cruz is just entering the prime of his career, which is a scary thought considering his style of fighting and how amazing it is.
After last night Faber and Cruz proved one thing, having a bantamweight fight as the main event can be super entertaining. In the first bantamweight main event in UFC history, both fighters have stepped up and become the big name fighters the division needs to thrive.