Dominick Cruz will enter the cage Saturday night for UFC Live and will be defending his bantamweight belt for second time in the UFC and fourth time overall.
He has beaten everybody you would see in the top five of any bantamweight ranking except Demetrious Johnson.
Cruz right now is third among active UFC champions with nine-straight victories—tied with Georges St-Pierre and Cain Velasquez. The only other two ahead of him? Anderson Silva with 14 and Jose Aldo with 12.
Cruz is 18-1 and he avenged his loss against Urijah Faber in early July.
Cruz is fighting for more than just a belt. Cruz is fighting to be claimed as a dominant champion, as a top champion. With a win over Demetrious Johnson, Cruz will have effectively beaten the top five bantamweights in the world.
It is his dominant fighting style that has gotten him this far. His high-paced, cardio challenging and striking dominant fight style has beaten all of these guys.
With that fighting style he has become one of the most dominant champions the bantamweight division will ever see. Not to mention, his size (5’8″ height and a 68 inch reach) has helped him with the smallest division the UFC has seen to date.
Cruz deserves to be mentioned along with the top UFC champions. With a win tonight, who does Cruz face?
Faber? Beat him. Bowles? Beat him. Benavidez? Beat him.
Cruz is fighting for the respect of a dominant champion, to break into the minds of the casual MMA fan. He has a lot of work to do tonight to beat an underdog who will push his pace even further.
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