Tag: Urijah Faber

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber — Live Results and Commentary

UFC 132 Dominick Cruz Urijah Faber MMA photos
(After three days of utter confusion, Arianny finally realizes what ‘Chocolate Al’ means. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this album, click here.)

As you make plans for your various drunken 4th of July celebrations, keep in mind that some of the men you see tonight may be too injured to grill burgers on Monday. Appreciate their sacrifice, ladies and gentlemen. Now then, who wants to see some dudes get kicked in the head and choked unconcious?

Manning the liveblog duties for this evening is CagePotato rising star Jason Moles, who will be providing round-by-round updates from the UFC 132 pay-per-view card beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Travel past the jump to join our little liveblog party, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. Thanks for being here, and may God bless this great nation.

UFC 132 Dominick Cruz Urijah Faber MMA photos
(After three days of utter confusion, Arianny finally realizes what ‘Chocolate Al’ means. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this album, click here.)

As you make plans for your various drunken 4th of July celebrations, keep in mind that some of the men you see tonight may be too injured to grill burgers on Monday. Appreciate their sacrifice, ladies and gentlemen. Now then, who wants to see some dudes get kicked in the head and choked unconscious?

Manning the liveblog duties for this evening is CagePotato rising star Jason Moles, who will be providing round-by-round updates from the UFC 132 pay-per-view card beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Travel past the jump to join our little liveblog party, and refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest. Thanks for being here, and may God bless this great nation.

Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Both guys walk toward the octagon with intensity burning in their eyes. Condit fist bumps at least half a dozen fans on his along the way. Standard bro hugs, mouth guard and cup check after that.

Round 1

Both men play ring around the posie as they feel each other out. Kim is first to strike with a nice head kick followed up by a takedown. Not that it mattered because Condit swept to mouth and immediately followed up with a guillotine attempt. Kim escapes and they stand back up. Condit tries for a head kick and a superman punch off the fence like he’s related to Anthony Pettis or something. Both men trade a fed push kicks and jabs. Then WHAM! Condit buries his flying knee right in Kim’s grill and “It’s all over”!

Winner: Carlos Condit KO 2:02 Round 1.

 

Ryan Bader vs. Tito Ortiz

Tito comes out to ‘Not Afraid’ by Eminem, Mexi-American flag in tow. Joe and Goldie’s man crush on Tito is in full effect.

 

Round 1

Bader wastes no time in initiating contact after they touch gloves. From the get-go he is in full attack mode throwing mean kicks and jabs mixed with a few hooks. Tito looking for his opening. Bader continues his pursuit and throws a few and misses a few. Crowd starts chanting “TITO! TITO! TITO!” and like Hulkamaniacs back in the day firing up Hulk Hogan, Tito comes to life. HOLY Firecrackers!!! Tito drops Bader with a solid right punch and jumps on him to finish him with a guillotine. Bader chokes and betters everywhere are cursing everything under the sun.

Love Tito’s Shirt: I’m not the next SOMEBODY – I’m the first TITO ORTIZ.

Winner: Tito Ortiz Sub 3:05 Round 1

 

Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman

Too busy picking my jaw up off the floor to pay attention to what happened as these two guys walked out. Please accept my sincerest apologies.

 

Round 1

Both throw kicks early. Wiman telegraphs haymakers but utilizes nice leg kicks. Wiman shoots in for a takedown to no avail. A missed headkick by Wiman leads into a frenzied back and forth boxing match for a brief period of time. The fans like this stuff. Wiman gets Siver up against the fence and dirty boxes him a little before the German attempts a guillotine (hey, it worked for the other guys, right?) They take the center of the cage and Siver throws punches in bunches and misses just as many. Wiman gets a takedown and ends the round on top.

Round 2

Wiman shoots in for a takedown – against the fence they go. After what seems like an eternity of minimal action (ok, I’m exaggerating) the crowd boos loud enough and they step it up.  Silver stuffs a takedown but then Wiman drops down and rolls him over, winds up in Siver’s guard. Wiman takes the remaining time left in the round to show you how to properly use your elbows in a fight. Siver gets cut so bad and the blood flows so freely he looks like a firework accident victim. Round ends with bloody Siver under confident Wiman.

 

Round 3

Silver stuffs another Wiman takedown then finally throws his patented spinning back kick but fails to land it. They trade punches then Wiman shoots in again and Siver stuffs it. Against the cage they go, both men working hard.  They get back to the center of the cage and Siver clips Wiman and the round ends with Siver trying to sub Wiman.

Winner by Unanimous (29-28) Decision: Dennis Siver.

 

WTF!!!! What ******* fight were those judges watching?!

 

Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben

Chris Leben comes out looking like dipped his head in Kool-Aid. Sandstorm hits the speakers filling the crowd with nostalgia. Wanderlei looks calm and ready. I really don’t want to see either of these guys lose.

Round 1

Wand strikes first but it doesn’t even matter. Leben proved all the media types right and placed his big right hand on Silva’s glass chin and he goes down. Leben follows up with several well placed left hands and finishes him off in the first minute of the the very first round. Damn. We still love you Wanderlei.

Main Event: Bantamweight Championship Fight

Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber

As always, ‘California Love’ plays as Faber walks his way to the cage. No braids. No headbands. Just a smile and a pair of black gloves. Cruz is booed before his music even hits. He doesn’t seem to mind, though, the pep in his step never fades.

Round 1

No touch of gloves. I know, you’re really surprised by that one. Right out of the gate Cruz comes out swinging and lands first punch. Faber responds with a kick and moves about. The crowd cheers for Faber minus the Hulkamania effect as he ties up with Cruz. Faber lands short elbow on exit while Cruz lands a switch kick. Faber lands a sold punch – Cruz remains unfazed. Both men go back and forth, neither doing more than the other. Just as the bell sounds, Cruz gets Faber to the ground.

Round 2

Urijah stuffs a couple more takedowns before the pace picks up. These two move so much that Mazagatti can hardly move out of their way . Faber nails a body kick as Cruz answers with a combination of punches. Faber lands big right hand, big pop from he crowd. Cruz attempts a few Superman punches but doesn’t dazzle until he gets Urijah to the ground. Sadly, it didn’t last long. End of round 1.

Round 3

Dominick Cruz is relentlessly attacking Urijah Faber, though it seems he’s choosing his shots wisely. Faber eats a few punches before taking Cruz to the mat who then scrambles to his feet – but not without getting cracked with Faber’s elbows on the way out. Cruz shoots another takedown but Faber catches him and makes him pay for going to the proverbial well one too many times.

The No Longer JUST Championship Rounds

Round 4

Cruz starts off landing a solid right hand followed by a hook and a high kick. Not to be outdone, Faber drops the champ with a big right hand. He pops right back up and they both connect. The idiot fans then start booing as two men continue to go at it with everything they’ve got throwing several combos. Cruz shoots in again with history repeating itself.

Round 5

Dominick Crus comes out with a flying knee, attacking like a rabbid animal. Cruz gets takedown but Faber gets right up. A flying knee by Faber misses but he continues to pursue his arch nemesis. Cruz gets multiple takedowns while Faber scrambles to his feet almost immediately.  Then Cruz turns it on and completely dominates Faber the rest of the round.

Winner: Unanimous Descision: Dominick Cruz.

Lloyd Irving gives Cruz his blue belt.

 

That’s it for me guys. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I have. Please celebrate your independence responsibly and don’t lose any fingers.

 

 

 

 

UFC 132 Fight Card: Wanderlei Silva Trys to Rejuvinate His Career vs Chris Leben

UFC 132 Fight Card Features the Return of Wanderlei SilvaUFC 132 features the long awaited return of the Wanderlei Silva. It has been over a year since Silva has taken to the octagon, and he is set to return Saturday night vs. Chris Leben.Silva is one …

UFC 132 Fight Card Features the Return of Wanderlei Silva

UFC 132 features the long awaited return of the Wanderlei Silva. It has been over a year since Silva has taken to the octagon, and he is set to return Saturday night vs. Chris Leben.

Silva is one of the sports all-time greats and most accomplished fighters. He dominated Pride’s middleweight (205lbs) division before switching to the UFC. Silva switched as he seemed to be falling off of his game.

He ended his Pride career with knockout losses to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Dan Henderson. He then started his UFC career with knockout losses to Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Silva is hoping the time away did him some good, and he is expecting to put on a good show against Leber. Here is Silva as quoted from an interview on ESPN:

It’s a really good fight for the fans. After I saw his fight with [Yoshihiro] Akiyama, his style was like my style. He’s one exciting fighter. He’s a warrior and has good heart. He doesn’t give a step back. In that fight, it’s good to look at who’s going to be the first to step back.

Part of the reason Silva is optimistic because, after a break, he has been training under Master [Rafael] Cordeiro again. Here is Silva on the subject from the above linked article:

Finally man. I’m an old style student. I need a master. I can’t have just a coach. I need a master.

The difference … the guy knows all about me. He knows my movements. He looks at you training and he knows. “You need to do that. You move that leg here. … ” He knows all. We started working in the gym sparring and he said do this, do this, do this. It’s a different connection.

Saturday night we will all find out if that switch can help him recapture the magic, or if father time has permanently stripped him this legendary fighter of his greatness.

Be sure to keep checking Bleacher Report for up-to-the-minute UFC 132 fight card news, predictions, play-by-play results and reactions!

—Richard Langford

UFC 132 Bonuses: Cruz vs. Faber Is Fight of Night

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Dominick Cruz avenged his only career loss, going the distance with Urijah Faber and defending his bantamweight title at UFC 132 on Saturday night. The back-and-forth main event, which had scores all over the map from the judges, earned Cruz and Faber $75,000 bonus checks for Fight of the Night.

Tito Ortiz‘s first-round major upset submission of Ryan Bader on Saturday earned him Submission of the Night honors and an additional $75,000, and Carlos Condit also picked up an extra check for his Knockout of the Night win over Dong Hyun Kim to open the pay-per-view.

UFC president Dana White announced the winners and amounts following Saturday’s card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The main event bantamweight title fight between champion Cruz and former featherweight champ Faber lived up to its billing. That was a major feat considering the amount of animosity between the two fighters, who have had bad blood since their first fight, a WEC featherweight title fight in March 2007 that saw Faber defend his 145-pound title – and hand Cruz the only loss of his career heading into Saturday night.

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UFC 132 Fight Night Photos
The referee checks on Wanderlei Silva after his knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber knees Dominick Cruz in their UFC bantamweight championship bout at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber exchanges with Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz misses a punch against Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz tries to avoid a kick from Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz punches Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz throws a right hand at Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber knees Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber takes a breather at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber punches Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz throws a flying knee at Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos


Faber (25-5, 1-1 UFC), who dropped down from featherweight to bantamweight after losing a WEC title shot against Jose Aldo in April 2010, went the distance with the champ, knocking him down several times and finding some success counter-punching in close as the unorthodox Cruz (18-1, 1-0 UFC) backed out from tight exchanges.

After four back-and-forth rounds that could have been scored for either fighter, Cruz came out more aggressive in the fifth, trying a flying knee and shooting for a takedown. After landing a knee, Faber briefly had a guillotine that he couldn’t fully sink in. A pair of Cruz takedowns, though, likely earned some points with the judges – though Faber was up quickly after each. But with 45 seconds left, Cruz landed another pair of perhaps point-searching scramble takedowns that sealed the deal on at least one scorecard.

Cruz won a unanimous decision with scores all over the map: 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47. “The dude hits hard. His hands are very fast. They were prepared,” Cruz said after the fight. Faber now has lost four straight title fights – twice to Mike Brown, once to Aldo, and now to Cruz, who avenged his only career loss.

Ortiz (16-8-1, 15-8-1 UFC) had his back against the wall going into the fight with Bader. As reported by MMA Fighting in January, White said another loss from Ortiz, the most successful light heavyweight champion in UFC history, would be his last fight in the promotion. With no wins in nearly five years, since a TKO of Ken Shamrock in October 2006, Ortiz has also battled injuries and surgeries outside the cage, as well as a well-publicized feud with White.

Though he was an underdog of as much as 5-to-1 at some online sportsbooks, Ortiz stunned most of the MMA world when he caught Bader (12-2, 5-2 UFC) with a tight right hand that dropped the Season 8 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Ortiz pounced, landed a few ground-and-pound shots, then locked in an arm-in guillotine that forced Bader to tap for the second straight fight, this time just 1:56 into the first round. Bader lost for the first time in February to Jon Jones, who went on to get a title shot and took the belt from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March.

Condit (27-5, 4-1 UFC), the former WEC welterweight champion, won his fourth straight fight and third straight bonus award. His first-round KO of Dan Hardy at UFC 120 was a Knockout of the Night, and his comeback win over Michael MacDonald at UFC 115 was a Fight of the Night winner. Condit and Dong Hyun Kim (14-1-1, 1 NC, 5-1, 1 NC UFC) fought relatively safe and tight for the first couple minutes of Round 1, but Condit then threw a flying knee that landed right on Kim’s chin, knocking him to the mat. Condit quickly swarmed and almost as quickly finished the fight with punches on the ground.

After the fight, Condit said he nearly had to pull out of the fight with an illness two weeks ago, but he believes he’s ready for a welterweight title shot. Current champion Georges St-Pierre defends his title against former Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz at UFC 137. “What do you think, Joe Silva? Am I ready for a title shot or what? I certainly hope so,” Condit said.

The Knockout of the Night bonus looked to be Rafael dos Anjos’ without much likely competition when it happened to open the Spike TV prelims. He stopped George Sotiropoulos in an upset with a big right haymaker less than a minute into the fight. But then Melvin Guillard got a huge knockout of Shane Roller to keep rolling in the lightweight division. Condit’s win made it three straight KO stoppages when he opened the pay-per-view with his big TKO. And Chris Leben, in the co-main event, knocked out Pride legend Wanderlei Silva just 27 seconds into the fight – the quickest loss of Silva’s lengthy career.

 

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Dominick Cruz avenged his only career loss, going the distance with Urijah Faber and defending his bantamweight title at UFC 132 on Saturday night. The back-and-forth main event, which had scores all over the map from the judges, earned Cruz and Faber $75,000 bonus checks for Fight of the Night.

Tito Ortiz‘s first-round major upset submission of Ryan Bader on Saturday earned him Submission of the Night honors and an additional $75,000, and Carlos Condit also picked up an extra check for his Knockout of the Night win over Dong Hyun Kim to open the pay-per-view.

UFC president Dana White announced the winners and amounts following Saturday’s card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The main event bantamweight title fight between champion Cruz and former featherweight champ Faber lived up to its billing. That was a major feat considering the amount of animosity between the two fighters, who have had bad blood since their first fight, a WEC featherweight title fight in March 2007 that saw Faber defend his 145-pound title – and hand Cruz the only loss of his career heading into Saturday night.


Faber (25-5, 1-1 UFC), who dropped down from featherweight to bantamweight after losing a WEC title shot against Jose Aldo in April 2010, went the distance with the champ, knocking him down several times and finding some success counter-punching in close as the unorthodox Cruz (18-1, 1-0 UFC) backed out from tight exchanges.

After four back-and-forth rounds that could have been scored for either fighter, Cruz came out more aggressive in the fifth, trying a flying knee and shooting for a takedown. After landing a knee, Faber briefly had a guillotine that he couldn’t fully sink in. A pair of Cruz takedowns, though, likely earned some points with the judges – though Faber was up quickly after each. But with 45 seconds left, Cruz landed another pair of perhaps point-searching scramble takedowns that sealed the deal on at least one scorecard.

Cruz won a unanimous decision with scores all over the map: 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47. “The dude hits hard. His hands are very fast. They were prepared,” Cruz said after the fight. Faber now has lost four straight title fights – twice to Mike Brown, once to Aldo, and now to Cruz, who avenged his only career loss.

Ortiz (16-8-1, 15-8-1 UFC) had his back against the wall going into the fight with Bader. As reported by MMA Fighting in January, White said another loss from Ortiz, the most successful light heavyweight champion in UFC history, would be his last fight in the promotion. With no wins in nearly five years, since a TKO of Ken Shamrock in October 2006, Ortiz has also battled injuries and surgeries outside the cage, as well as a well-publicized feud with White.

Though he was an underdog of as much as 5-to-1 at some online sportsbooks, Ortiz stunned most of the MMA world when he caught Bader (12-2, 5-2 UFC) with a tight right hand that dropped the Season 8 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Ortiz pounced, landed a few ground-and-pound shots, then locked in an arm-in guillotine that forced Bader to tap for the second straight fight, this time just 1:56 into the first round. Bader lost for the first time in February to Jon Jones, who went on to get a title shot and took the belt from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March.

Condit (27-5, 4-1 UFC), the former WEC welterweight champion, won his fourth straight fight and third straight bonus award. His first-round KO of Dan Hardy at UFC 120 was a Knockout of the Night, and his comeback win over Michael MacDonald at UFC 115 was a Fight of the Night winner. Condit and Dong Hyun Kim (14-1-1, 1 NC, 5-1, 1 NC UFC) fought relatively safe and tight for the first couple minutes of Round 1, but Condit then threw a flying knee that landed right on Kim’s chin, knocking him to the mat. Condit quickly swarmed and almost as quickly finished the fight with punches on the ground.

After the fight, Condit said he nearly had to pull out of the fight with an illness two weeks ago, but he believes he’s ready for a welterweight title shot. Current champion Georges St-Pierre defends his title against former Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz at UFC 137. “What do you think, Joe Silva? Am I ready for a title shot or what? I certainly hope so,” Condit said.

The Knockout of the Night bonus looked to be Rafael dos Anjos’ without much likely competition when it happened to open the Spike TV prelims. He stopped George Sotiropoulos in an upset with a big right haymaker less than a minute into the fight. But then Melvin Guillard got a huge knockout of Shane Roller to keep rolling in the lightweight division. Condit’s win made it three straight KO stoppages when he opened the pay-per-view with his big TKO. And Chris Leben, in the co-main event, knocked out Pride legend Wanderlei Silva just 27 seconds into the fight – the quickest loss of Silva’s lengthy career.

 

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UFC 132 Results: Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki

UFC 132 took place on Saturday, July 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.  The main event featured the first UFC bantamweight title fight ever as Dominick Cruz defends his title …

UFC 132 took place on Saturday, July 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.  The main event featured the first UFC bantamweight title fight ever as Dominick Cruz defends his title against the only fighter to ever defeat him, Urijah Faber. 

The co-main event featured  the long awaited return of Wanderlei Silva, who faced  Chris Leben.  Also appearing on the main card was Tito Ortiz who faced Ryan Bader.

The fourth and final fight on the UFC’s facebook streaming portion of the card featured a bantamweight fight between former WEC champion Brian Bowles (9-1) and Takeya Mizugaki (14-5-2).

The fight started with both fighters looking to land some strikes. Not a very eventful round to start the fight.

After a prolonged period of exchanging on their feet Bowles took the fight to the ground, locked in the body triangle and then went to work, trying to secure a choke.

Between the second and third round Bowles said he hurt his hand while his corner told him that they did not care, “champions fight in the third round.”

With 3:00 left in the third Bowles landed a takedown and when Mizugaki stood he had Bowles stuck to his back and looking for a submission.

The fight goes to the cards:29-28, 30-27, 30-27 for Bowles

Be sure to keep checking Bleacher Report for up-to-the-minute UFC 132 fight card news, predictions, play-by-play results and reactions!

UFC 132 Results: Aaron Simpson vs Brad Tavares

UFC 132 will take place on Saturday, July 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.  The main event will feature the first UFC bantamweight title fight ever as Dominick Cruz defends his …

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

The co-main event will feature the long awaited return of Wanderlei Silva, who is set to face Chris Leben.  Also appearing on the main card will be Tito Ortiz who will be fighting for his UFC career when he faces Ryan Bader.

The third fight on the preliminary card that was streamed on the UFC’s facebook page featured a middleweight bout between Aaron Simpson (8-2) and Brad Tavares (7-0)

The fight started with a body kick from Tavares. Simpson then went after a takedown. Simpson then worked the clinch against the fence for a fairly long time before they were separated by the referee.

The round ended with Tavares his range and landing some punches.

The second round started with Simpson getting tagged with two punches that briefly had him staggered, but Tavares allowed him time and space and Simpson took Tavares’ back and recovered from the punches.

Tavares then surprised everyone by delivering a nice takedown that had Simpson on the ground for less than a second. When they got back to their feet SImpson went for the choke.

The third round started with Simpson using a combination to put Tavares up against the cage. Tavares spun out of the clinch.

Simpson imposed his will during the three round fight, but Tavares showed remarkable takedown defense against the All-American wrestler.

The fight goes to the cards: 30-27 on all three cards for Simpson

Be sure to keep checking Bleacher Report for up-to-the-minute UFC 132 fight card news, predictions, play-by-play results and reactions!

Dominick Cruz Beats Urijah Faber in UFC 132 Main Event

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Dominick Cruz punches Urijah Faber at UFC 132.The first bantamweight title fight in UFC history did not disappoint, as Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber battled inside the Octagon for 25 minutes and put on a show, with Cruz taking home a unanimous decision and retaining his bantamweight belt.

“I’ve got to say, Urijah — man, that dude hits hard,” Cruz said after the fight. “He hits hard, his hands move fast. … Thank you, God.”

Both 135-pounders have unorthodox styles, and the clash of those styles was a sight to behold: They both moved around the Octagon like waterbugs, taking strange angles, clashing together and then pulling apart. The fight was close and competitive, and it was surprising that one judge scored it 50-45 for Cruz, saying that Cruz had won all five rounds. The other two judges scored it 49-46 and 48-47 for Cruz, which seemed like more reasonable scores.

Cruz came in as the reigning champion because he was the last bantamweight champion of World Extreme Cagefighting, which the UFC absorbed at the end of last year. But Faber was the WEC’s most popular fighter and its former featherweight champion, and he was clearly the fan favorite on Saturday night: The crowd in Las Vegas chanted “Faber! Faber!” in the early going, and Cruz was booed.

Faber said afterward that he thought he deserved to win the decision, but despite his longstanding personal animosity with Cruz, he was classy in defeat.

“I thought it was going to be a tough fight,” Faber said. “I thought I landed the heavier punches, I had him off a couple times. But congratulations to Dominick. He won. It wasn’t enough of an output on my side to make it a decision, and I didn’t finish him. I felt like it could have gone either way, I felt like I won the fight, but you can’t really judge when it comes to that, so congratulations to Dominick.”

Faber had previously defeated Cruz in 2007, and UFC announcer Joe Rogan suggested to Faber during the post-fight interview that they should settle things once and for all with a rubber match.

“That’d be great,” Faber said. “Let’s do it.”

A third Cruz-Faber fight may be in the offing, but for now, Cruz remains the UFC champion, and the best bantamweight in the world.

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UFC 132 Fight Night Photos
The referee checks on Wanderlei Silva after his knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber knees Dominick Cruz in their UFC bantamweight championship bout at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber exchanges with Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz misses a punch against Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz tries to avoid a kick from Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz punches Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz throws a right hand at Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber knees Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber takes a breather at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber punches Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz throws a flying knee at Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

 

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Dominick Cruz punches Urijah Faber at UFC 132.The first bantamweight title fight in UFC history did not disappoint, as Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber battled inside the Octagon for 25 minutes and put on a show, with Cruz taking home a unanimous decision and retaining his bantamweight belt.

“I’ve got to say, Urijah — man, that dude hits hard,” Cruz said after the fight. “He hits hard, his hands move fast. … Thank you, God.”

Both 135-pounders have unorthodox styles, and the clash of those styles was a sight to behold: They both moved around the Octagon like waterbugs, taking strange angles, clashing together and then pulling apart. The fight was close and competitive, and it was surprising that one judge scored it 50-45 for Cruz, saying that Cruz had won all five rounds. The other two judges scored it 49-46 and 48-47 for Cruz, which seemed like more reasonable scores.

Cruz came in as the reigning champion because he was the last bantamweight champion of World Extreme Cagefighting, which the UFC absorbed at the end of last year. But Faber was the WEC’s most popular fighter and its former featherweight champion, and he was clearly the fan favorite on Saturday night: The crowd in Las Vegas chanted “Faber! Faber!” in the early going, and Cruz was booed.

Faber said afterward that he thought he deserved to win the decision, but despite his longstanding personal animosity with Cruz, he was classy in defeat.

“I thought it was going to be a tough fight,” Faber said. “I thought I landed the heavier punches, I had him off a couple times. But congratulations to Dominick. He won. It wasn’t enough of an output on my side to make it a decision, and I didn’t finish him. I felt like it could have gone either way, I felt like I won the fight, but you can’t really judge when it comes to that, so congratulations to Dominick.”

Faber had previously defeated Cruz in 2007, and UFC announcer Joe Rogan suggested to Faber during the post-fight interview that they should settle things once and for all with a rubber match.

“That’d be great,” Faber said. “Let’s do it.”

A third Cruz-Faber fight may be in the offing, but for now, Cruz remains the UFC champion, and the best bantamweight in the world.

 

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