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UFC 132 Fight Card Preview: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber Fight Prediction

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan R.R. Clarke:Round OneBoth men are capable strikers, but I think Urijah and Dominick will take their time in the opening minutes of the fight, feeling each other out and getting familiar with their opponent.I think we will …

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan R.R. Clarke:

Round One

Both men are capable strikers, but I think Urijah and Dominick will take their time in the opening minutes of the fight, feeling each other out and getting familiar with their opponent.

I think we will see a few flurries of Dominick’s trademark combinations coming forward, but nothing too committed or too reckless. Faber will be looking for the takedown early in the fight, as he is the far more accomplished submission artist—holding 13 submission victories to his name, compared to Cruz’s single win via tap-out.

Faber attempts takedowns in round 1, but Cruz does well to snuff them.

The Story of The Round: Cruz utilizes fast combinations whilst Faber looks for the takedown—an expected start to the fight.

Round Two

By now, both fighters are comfortable with each other’s style and approach to start to loosen up a bit. Dominick’s stand-up game starts to improve as he lands some good shots on Faber. Cruz has to be careful when moving forward, as Faber is always on the lookout for a takedown. And there it is!

Faber gets a single leg takedown and Cruz is now in dangerous territory.

He is on his back and Faber is no slouch from inside the guard. If Cruz can somehow get himself into top position his ground and pound would be a welcome asset to his arsenal. As it is though, the round grinds down to a close as both fighters finish on the mat—Faber unable to slap on any significant submission attempts and Cruz is happy to see the second round come to an end.

The Story of The Round: Faber takes Cruz down and scores big. Cruz is fairly defensive for the best part of the five minutes.

Round Three

Dominick is a lot more wary of the takedown now and doesn’t leave any legs trailing. He looks a lot more alert on his feet—as a few swift jabs followed by a head kick just scuff Faber’s defending arm.

The two fighters exchange punches—which leads to an entangled clinch upon the cage wall. Cruz utilizes the support of the caging in order to prevent a takedown. In trying too hard for the slam to the mat, Faber has found himself locked into a guillotine.

The fighters fall to the ground, but as they do, Cruz’s guillotine is broken and he finds himself on his back. This time Faber is able to reach side control. Cruz does a good job of preventing the mount, as Faber is unable to do much damage from the advantageous position he finds himself in. The horn rings and that’s the end of round 3.

The Story of The Round: Both fighters displayed some effective stand-up, Cruz scoring slightly better. Faber once again showed his strengths when the fight went to the mat.

Round Four

The championship rounds. The last two rounds when good fighters are separated from great fighters.

Straight away, Faber looks desperate for that early takedown—shooting in but not getting close. He thinks an early takedown in the round would spell great danger for Cruz and I have no reason to think any different. However, Dominick isn’t the Champion for nothing, and he quickly tries to neutralize this by using his strong stand-up game.

Mid-way through the round Faber is able to get the take down, but it doesn’t turn out quite how he would have liked!

Cruz finds himself in top position thanks to a sleek sweep, and now proceeds to rain down a barrage of devastating elbows and punches. The referee is close by and Faber looks in trouble. The referee takes a closer look and IT’S ALL OVER!

Dominick Cruz defeats Urijah Faber through a devastating ground and pound!

Cruz is jubilant as he circles the ring in celebration, whilst Faber is conscious but hurting from the defeat.

UFC 132 Fight Card: Carlos Condit’s Most Impressive Wins

Bleacher Report’s Andrew Mahlmann:UFC 120 vs Dan HardyDan Hardy entered the UFC with a 20-6(1) record and rattled off four straight victories before getting thoroughly dominated by Georges “Rush” St-Pierre when the welterweight title was on the l…

Bleacher Report’s Andrew Mahlmann:

UFC 120 vs Dan Hardy

Dan Hardy entered the UFC with a 20-6(1) record and rattled off four straight victories before getting thoroughly dominated by Georges “Rush” St-Pierre when the welterweight title was on the line.

Hardy looked to bounce back by knocking out another fighter who loved to stand and bang: none other than Carlos Condit.

However, Condit proved he was the superior fighter, knocking out “The Outlaw” late in the first round of their 2010 encounter.

Condit is the only fighter who has defeated Hardy via knockout, showing how impressive his chin and punching power truly are.

Rumble on the Rock vs Frank Trigg

Condit was a big underdog to Frank Trigg heading into the semifinals of the 2006 Rumble on the Rock welterweight tournament.

The Natural Born Killer was only 21 years old at the time, so questions regarding his abilities were fairly expected.

Their fight began as most anticipated, with Trigg getting a takedown almost immediately.

However, Trigg’s jiu-jitsu game was very raw back then, as he was primarily a big, strong wrestler.

Therefore, he had little respect for Condit’s submission game off his back, and ended up walking right into a triangle armbar.

Trigg’s held on as long as he could, but eventually decided to tap before Condit could dislocate his elbow.

This is when people truly began to realize that Condit was a real threat at 170 pounds.

WEC 35 vs Hiromitsu Miura

This was Condit’s third and final defense of his WEC welterweight title. Miura, another highly respected striker, was expected to give Condit all he could handle in this one.

That’s exactly what happened, as the fans seated in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino enjoyed an all out war as the main event.

The fight was not without controversy, though, as the fighter were stood up on two occasions when Miura was on top of Condit.

Many felt that while Miura was not all that active on top, the stand-ups were premature.

While some even questioned the fourth-round TKO stoppage, Condit visibly hurt Miura very badly, as the challenger on the ground several minutes after the fight ended.

This bout showed that Condit could not only dish out punishment but he could take it as well, in this Fight of the Night effort.

UFC Fight Night 19 vs Jake Ellenberger

Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger, a fighter with a high wrestling pedigree, showed off his powerful punches in the first round of his meeting with Condit.

Ellenberger visibly rocked Condit with big punches in the first round and neutralized The Natural Born Killer’s jiu-jitsu with his excellent top control.

However, Condit refused to be rattled or stray from his game plan, and ended up winning a very close split decision with quality jiu-jitsu transitions and effective strikes from top.

Ellenberger is unarguably another tough contender at 170 pounds, so a second encounter between these two could prove to be quite interesting in the future.

UFC 115 vs Rory McDonald

Rory MacDonald is the definition of an MMA prodigy, making his professional debut at 15 years of age!

MacDonald took on Condit in June of last year, in a fight to see which young fighter was ready to take their game to the next level.

Condit was getting beat definitively for the first time in years and had no answers for MacDonald’s takedowns, top control and innovate striking through the first two rounds.

Just as it looked like MacDonald was going to cruise to an impressive unanimous decision victory, Condit came out swinging for the fences in the third and final round.

Condit finally managed to get the better of MacDonald with striking exchanges on the feet, and completely dominated the Canadian prospect with punches and elbows once he got on top of him with about a minute remaining.

A bloody and beaten MacDonald saw the fight get stopped with a mere seven seconds remaining, giving Condit the TKO victory.

It was later revealed that MacDonald would have won the split decision if the fight had gone the distance.

While it is rare to see a fight stopped with such little time left, it was hard to argue given how vicious Condit’s relentless ground-and-pound was.

This was Condit’s second Fight of the Night honor and is his biggest win to date, since it truly showcased how much grit, determination and talent The Natural Born Killer truly possesses.

UFC 132: Arianny Celeste in Bud Light Commercial for UFC 132

Earlier this year, the UFC announced that they had renewed their sponsorship deal with Bud Light. The promotion revealed that Bud Light would increase their pay-per-view sponsorships from two events per year to four. Bud Light also agreed to back on…

It appears that the next event that Bud Light will sponsor will be UFC 132. They have recently released a commercial for the event featuring UFC octagon girl Arianny Celeste.

UFC 132 will take place on July 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The main event on the card will feature the UFC’s first bantamweight title fight as champion Dominick Cruz defends his title against the only man to defeat him, Urijah Faber.

Also appearing on the UFC 132 fight card will be Wanderlei Silva who will make his long-awaited return to the cage. His opponent will be Chris Leben.

Tito Ortiz will fight for his UFC career on the UFC 132 fight card, as Dana White has said that this is Ortiz’s last chance with the promotion. Ortiz has not won a fight since 2006 and will be the underdog on July 2 when he faces Ryan Bader.

UFC 132: Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber Talk First UFC Bantamweight Title Fight

Bleacher Report’s Danny Acosta:After 17 years, the UFC is ready to deliver the first sub-155-pound main event in Octagon history. The headlining honors belong to 135-pounders Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber as the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, …

Bleacher Report’s Danny Acosta:

After 17 years, the UFC is ready to deliver the first sub-155-pound main event in Octagon history.

The headlining honors belong to 135-pounders Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber as the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. hosts UFC 132 this Saturday night.

Their last meeting in Sin City occurred in March 2007 when Faber, then the WEC featherweight champion, retained his belt versus Cruz via first-round guillotine choke. Four years later, Cruz has the opportunity to defend his 135-pound crown for the third time in his UFC debut while avenging the lone loss of his 18-fight career (17-1) against “The California Kid” (25-4).

“That’s exactly what I feel I’m doing: I’m staking my claim and showing what I can do and that I deserve to be the king of this weight class,” the UFC bantamweight champion told Bleacher Report.

UFC parent company Zuffa experimented with the marketability of the lower weight classes by showcasing them in the WEC for the last three years. It was successful largely because of Faber, the face of the organization, who headlined the WEC’s lone pay-per-view offering opposite Jose Aldo.

Participating in another landmark bout for the sub-155-pound divisions is the latest in a long line of Faber’s headlining duties that date back to his third ever contest.

“I feel lucky to have been in this position but it’s also come on the back of a lot of hard work. There hasn’t been all highs in my career,” Faber said to Bleacher Report, “and to stay on course and not get deserted and create opportunities for yourself—that’s what this is about. This is me creating opportunities by winning by staying persistent and consistent and going after what I want.”

The UFC’s inaugural bantamweight title tilt suggests the lower the weight, the higher the stakes. The chemistry for this bout fuels the rematch with heavyweight hype.

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UFC 132 Bantamweight Championship Breakdown: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber

Filed under: UFCWith all the talk about Tito Ortiz’s last chance in the octagon, another veteran of the sport is under a similar kind of pressure. Like Ortiz, fellow Californian Urijah Faber is facing a must-win situation. It’s not as dire as that of O…

Filed under: UFC

With all the talk about Tito Ortiz‘s last chance in the octagon, another veteran of the sport is under a similar kind of pressure. Like Ortiz, fellow Californian Urijah Faber is facing a must-win situation. It’s not as dire as that of Ortiz, who needs a victory just to keep his job, but it’s nearly as important. At 32 years old, Faber may be facing his last legitimate shot to win a major world championship.

That may sound like hyperbole given the fact that Faber (25-4) is still considered one of the best lower-weight division fighters in the world, but look at it from this perspective: heading into UFC 132, Faber has lost three consecutive championship fights. A loss to Dominick Cruz would have him 0-4 going for the gold in two different weight classes. There’s only so many times you can sell the public on a contender when he keeps losing the big one. As good as he is, Faber is already dangerously close to that characterization. Just three fights after dropping down a division to challenge for a belt in a new weight class, he has reached the point where he has to win.

Amazingly, prior to his recent stretch of title fight problems, Faber was practically unbeatable. Before losing the belt, he was 21-1 with a 13-fight win streak. But he’s just 4-3 in his last seven bouts. The fight with Cruz is a rematch of their March 2007 fight, which Faber won in an easy first-round submission.

That loss remains the only defeat of Cruz’s career. Now 17-1, the San Diego-based fighter has won eight straight, including two title defenses, one coming against Faber’s teammate Joseph Benavidez.

The win over Benavidez was the closest fight Cruz has had since he lost to Faber, winning in a tight split-decision. Interestingly, Benavidez and Faber are teammates and train together every day, making it likely that Faber took several lessons from that fight.

Benavidez’s game plan that night had several patterns that we can assume Faber may choose to implement. The thing about Cruz is that you know he is going to come to you. He is one of the most energetic fighters in the division and while his accuracy is below average (just 27 percent, according to FightMetric), he tends to overwhelm opponents with sheer volume along with defensive excellence. He strikes but when you fire back, he’s usually nowhere to be found.

Benavidez countered that by choosing to engage him on the inside. Because Cruz’s side-to-side footwork makes him an elusive target, Benavidez often sat back and let Cruz come to him before lunging forward with head-hunting shots. He also moved forward whenever Cruz kicked, stepping into power strikes of his own. In essence, Benavidez showed that he didn’t have much respect for Cruz’s power because he had to step into the fire to fire his own offense. The plan resulted in some success, because while Cruz outlander Benavidez 103-46 according to FightMetric stats, the judges saw it much closer.

Faber is likely to have a similar game plan. Most fighters are not going to try to match Cruz’s activity, which some of them see as movement for the sake of movement rather than accomplishing anything. For Cruz, though, it’s about tempo and spacing. While Faber is 32, he is probably one of the few who can keep pace with the 25-year-old Cruz if he so desired. He probably won’t go punch for punch with the champion, however. Faber has big belief in his standup and is likely to let Cruz take the lead while sitting back and unloading whenever Cruz wades in a little too close.

The problem with this type of strategy is it tends to be all-or-nothing. When one fighter is constantly moving forward and leading exchanges, judges tend to see the fight in his favor. It is almost reliant upon the counterfighter to finish. In higher weight classes, finishing rates are higher so fighters have a better chance to successfully employ this type of tactic and close out the show. Once you get down to the bantamweight level though, finishing rates go down drastically, making it a riskier strategy. After all, if you’re taking three to get one, even if that one is really good, the judges have still seen you getting hit two more times than your opponent.

Still, it’s the strategy I expect to see Faber employ, countering with straight right hands off kicks and whenever Cruz steps inside. Faber may also try to play the bully and grind Cruz against the cage a bit, but Cruz usually works himself out of those situations. The other spot of danger for Cruz is in going for takedowns. According to Compustrike, he’s been successful on 21 of 25 takedowns (84 percent) over his last six fights. But Faber has got a wicked guillotine. In fact, it’s the move that caught Cruz and forced him to tap in their first fight. Benavidez hunted for it against Cruz as well. But the champion is much better schooled now than he was at that point in his career four years ago, and Faber will have a much more difficult time catching him.

Faber has ways to win. He has enough power to hurt Cruz and possibly finish him on the ground. But Cruz has always shown a great chin and he’s not particularly easy to hit. He lands about twice as often as his opponents hit him, FightMetric says. He’s also extremely motivated, wanting to erase the memories of his only loss. The Cruz trend will continue Saturday. His volume and versatility will sway the judges. Flash some fancy footwork with his varied standup, sprinkle in a few takedowns, and stay away from any big damage and the fight is his to win on points. Cruz via decision.

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UFC Rumor: Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in “Deep Talks” with WWE

Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:Former UFC champion Brock Lesnar may be back sooner than we first expected—but it might actually be with a former employer, the WWE. Long-time pro wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer wrote today in the Wrestling Observer that…

Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:

Former UFC champion Brock Lesnar may be back sooner than we first expected—but it might actually be with a former employer, the WWE.

Long-time pro wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer wrote today in the Wrestling Observer that Lesnar has “either made a deal or at least [is] in very serious negotiations to have a business relationship with WWE.”

Lesnar remains hugely popular with the WWE audience and has been linked to many returns in the past after he left the company to pursue a career in the NFL in 2004.

“It is not to wrestle, and as far as what we’ve heard, would also not be as a television character,” Meltzer continued.

Top WWE superstar CM Punk delivered a memorable promo this past Monday on WWE’s RAW program where he mentioned both Brock Lesnar and his on-screen manager, friend and book partner Paul Heyman.

According to Meltzer’s report, both Heyman and Lesnar are in negotiations with the WWE.

As it is an entertainment industry, there are many opportunities for work off-camera for both men. But MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani also indicated that the deal could simply be a merchandise agreement.

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