Tag: Flagship

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.

Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose

A huge knockout victory over Shane Roller tonight at UFC 132 capped off what is now a five-fight winning streak in the UFC for Melvin Guillard. A former Ultimate Fighter 2 contestant, Guillard has now pushed his way up into serious title contention in one of the most competitive divisions in the UFC.

An excited Guillard talked to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani after the fight.

“I come to knock guys out, man. I’m a finisher. I’m the No. 1 fighter in the UFC at lightweight, that’s a finisher,” he exclaimed. “All the other guys are not really finishing fights.

“Most guys are inconsistent finishers, I go in for the kill.”

After a rough patch that saw him lose two fights in a row in 2007, Guillard has since bounced back by winning eight of his past nine fights. His game plan has been a big reason for that streak as he has become more experienced.

“I’m just mentally patient and physically fierce,” he shrugged. “When the opening is there, I capitalize.”

Now riding the biggest hot streak of his UFC career, Guillard’s confidence is at an all-time high. He appears ready to fight anyone in the division.

“I’ll knock anybody out in this weight class,” he declared.

But he doesn’t want to be given a title shot immediately.

“I want to earn it, man. I don’t want anybody giving me anything. Nobody has ever given me anything in my life,” he explained. “Right now, I really want to fight Jim Miller. He’s my ticket to a title.”

“If I fight anybody else, I won’t feel like it’s right. I feel like Jim Miller’s my No. 1 contender fight.”

Of course, Miller is currently scheduled to fight former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson in August, in what many believe is a No. 1 contenders fight for the 20-2 lightweight. As such, Guillard will have to wait his turn and understands that a loss for Miller could mean a less valuable victory for Guillard himself, if the two eventually do fight.

“If Ben beats Jim, then that kind of ruins it [for me] because if I fight anybody else, I might not get that call… If I beat a guy like Jim Miller and knock him out, I’ll definitely get a call [to fight for the title].”

Guillard and Ben Henderson are good friends, but business is business.

“I’m not saying I want to see Ben Henderson lose, but from a business aspect, I might need him to take that ‘L’ so I can get the ‘W’.”

Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron

Bleacher Report’s Mark Pare:

UFC 132 was a stacked card from top to bottom, with the main card littered with former champions, Ultimate Fighter winners and was capped off with a UFC first.

The UFC Bamtamweight title was defended for the first time ever and champion Dominick Cruz successfully defended his belt against Urijah Faber.

This is the second time these competitors faced against each other.  In the first bout, Faber choked out Cruz at WEC 26 in March 2007.  That bout lasted 1:38.  This time, they went the distance and what a fight it was.

The first round proved to be a close one, however, Cruz showed his unorthodox style, leaving Faber to question his movements throughout the first five minutes.  Faber attempted a few take downs but Cruz got out of each of them.  Cruz landed a few solid shots and controlled the pace for the most part.  Faber claims he expected Cruz to be unpredictable coming in.

“I knew he was going to come in awkward like that,” Faber said to Joe Rogan following his unanimous decision loss. “I decided to come straight forward. I didn’t feel like I was in danger at any point, but it is what it is.”

The second round saw Faber come back strong, landing a few strikes.  Cruz looked exhausted by the middle of the round, noticeably looking at the clock and taking a deep breath on a couple of occasions.  “The Dominator” did get a take down to slow the momentum of the “California Kid” but Faber got out soon after and finished the round strong.

Round 3 started and Faber continued a relentless pace with Cruz trying to come back with counters.  At the mid point, Cruz landed a great combination and a head kick.  With about two minutes left in the round, there was a wild scramble by both fighters.  Faber scored a take down ad then Cruz countered into side control..  Faber rolled out again and got to his feet.

Counters were the story of this fight, one that earned “Fight of the Night” honors.

Entering the championship rounds, Faber landed a devastating punch and slowed the champion down.  The rest of the round displayed more of the quick pace that these fighters in the Bantamweight division are known for.

In the final round, both fighters were looking for the finish.  Knees, guillotines, and a pace that showed what level of skill is required to be a UFC champion.

A tough one for the judges to score, but when the verdict came in, Cruz retained the title with a 50-45, 49-46, and 48-47 unanimous decision win and avenged his only MMA loss.

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UFC 132 saw one of the most impressive knockouts in recent memory when Chris Leben was able to defeat one of his idols, Wanderlei Silva, in the semi-main event.

But the event may also be memorable for another reason as former middleweight No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen continued his verbal tirade on the organization by challenging yet another Brazilian fighter, Anderson Silva’s friend and fellow Black House member Lyoto Machida. 

This came as somewhat of a surprise as Sonnen had been openly bashing Wanderlei in the media for the past few weeks leading up to this event. 

“I was cheering for Chris [Leben],” Sonnen admitted tonight to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “I don’t have any ill-will towards Wanderlei; I hope he’s okay.”

Sonnen was in attendance and witnessed Silva get knocked out of the fifth time in his last eight fights.

“He can’t do this work,” Sonnen bluntly stated. “But I certainly hope he’s okay.” 

“The only guy that would’ve finished him quicker is me.”

When asked if he would like to be the next to fight Silva, Sonnen shook his head and dismissed the idea entirely.

“No, it doesn’t make sense,” he explained. “Wanderlei is going to need to do something else. I don’t have any interest in getting in there with him. I don’t want to be the next guy to force him to have a flashlight shined in his eyes.” 

But he did have his eyes set on a fight, surprisingly one outside his own middleweight division. For whatever reason, Sonnen apparently wants to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

“There’s a karate guy at 205 pounds. I might stop there on my way back to 185. For a tune-up fight, take out Machida.” 

Machida is coming of a huge win over Randy Couture at UFC 129. Though the fight against Sonnen would certainly be one that fans would look forward to, it’s hard to say that it would be a great fight for Machida to take if he hopes to move back up the ranks in the light heavyweight division.

With Sonnen having been off for nearly a year at this point and moving up in weight classes, it’d be difficult for matchmaker Joe Silva to give Machida much credit if he were to defeat the loud-mouthed 185-pounder.

That said, expect to hear much more about this potential fight in the coming weeks.

Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron