Tag: Urijah Faber

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:

Dominick Cruz, Urijah Faber at UFC 132With 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.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

UFC 132: Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber Fight for Future of MMA

UFC 132 is nearly upon us, and with so many great matches on tap, it’s tough to refrain from getting excited about the present without wondering what this weekend’s festivities mean for the future of MMA’s most popular circuit.In previous years, fights…

UFC 132 is nearly upon us, and with so many great matches on tap, it’s tough to refrain from getting excited about the present without wondering what this weekend’s festivities mean for the future of MMA‘s most popular circuit.

In previous years, fights involving Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz would easily have carried the day, though current fans might only scoff at such antiquated names and wonder whether UFC president Dana White is partying like its 2003.

Nowadays, monikers like “The Axe Murderer” and “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” have made way for a new generation of budding superstars who have flooded the UFC’s ranks from other, smaller organizations that have either drifted to the margins or gone defunct entirely.

Among that batch of new blood are the two names adorning the marquee at the MGM Grand Garden Theater in Las Vegas—Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.

The two became part of UFC back in October of 2010, when World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the UFC and brought along with it all of its fighters, including Cruz and Faber, who happened to be two of its top prospects.

Cruz, who is 17-1 in his MMA career coming into Saturday’s bout, has yet to fight since joining UFC, thereby making his rematch with Faber something of a first. At 5’8″ and 134.5 pounds, Cruz, a native of Tuscon, Arizona who now fights out of San Diego, California, tends to switch between boxing while on his feet and traditional wrestling when he’s grounded, and judging by his record, which includes six knockouts, the man known as “Dominator” has done quite well with it.

Faber, on the other hand, is slightly shorter, at 5’6″, but is almost identical in weight at 135 pounds, with significantly more fighting experience than his young challenger. “The California Kid” has emerged as a star for UFC since he defeated former WEC Bantanweight champion Eddie Wineland by unanimous decision in his UFC debut at UFC 128 back in March of this year.

The two former WEC fighters do have something of a history to fall back on in this bout. In March of 2007, Faber and Cruz fought as Featherweights, though truth be told, it wasn’t much of a fight at all. Faber forced Cruz into submission by guillotine choke at the 1:38 mark of the first round, thereby successfully defending his belt for the second time without even going into the second round.

So who’s to say the outcome will be any different this time around? What’s there to suggest that Faber won’t simply toss Cruz aside like yesterday’s news as he marches onward into UFC stardom? After all, this will mark the second time that Cruz will have faced Faber just after joining a new promotion company, as Faber was also Cruz’s first opponent after joining WEC.

And I’ve already told you how that one turned out.

However, to say so flatly that the result will be the same on Saturday simply because the circumstances are similar neglects the fact that Cruz hasn’t lost a match since that fateful day four years ago and would certainly deny that Cruz, now at 25, is a much more mature fighter just entering his prime, while Faber, albeit still considerably more experienced, would appear to be somewhere on the tail-end of his best years about to fade into the twilight of his career at 32 years of age.

If that were the case, then wouldn’t it make much more sense for UFC to promote Cruz as the next big thing, given his potential for greater longevity?

Sure, of course it does, but again, Cruz hasn’t even competed in a UFC fight yet, much less claimed victory in one, even though UFC was kind enough to promote Cruz to Bantamweight Champion after carrying over his belt from WEC. Thus, if Cruz proves his mettle against Faber at UFC 132, he’ll not only have exacted revenge for himself personally, but also established his brand in the UFC world professionally while defending a crown that he seemingly owns by default.

Then again, if Cruz loses, particularly in the rather rapid way in which he did last time, then the spotlight will shine that much brighter on Faber, who already has some prime face time in the television advertisement for UFC’s Personal Trainer video game for the XBOX 360 and won’t soon lose any luster if he adds the league’s Bantamweight Championship to his resume.

Either way, there will surely be at least one star borne from the slate of fights at UFC 132 this weekend. The question remains: Who’s it going to be? 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber Will Raise the Bar in the UFC Bantamweight Division

As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to evolve and grow, its fans grow along with it. MMA has transformed from its open weight bare knuckle roots to the UFC now talking about adding an eighth weight class. The transformation has been nothing sh…

As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to evolve and grow, its fans grow along with it. MMA has transformed from its open weight bare knuckle roots to the UFC now talking about adding an eighth weight class.

The transformation has been nothing short of astonishing. One of the huge reasons the UFC can even consider adding a 125 pound weight class is due to the success Zuffa has found incorporating smaller weight divisions into the UFC.

Obviously, that success gained traction under Zuffa’s WEC banner. The level of talent and competition that was bred inside that bright blue Octagon often rivaled, and at times exceeded, UFC events. Simply put, the smaller fighters can scrap and have proven more than capable of captivating the MMA community.

It is fighters like Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz that exemplify exactly why the community has embraced these lighter but equally as entertaining combatants. Their fierce combination of precision, aggression, showmanship and their championship pedigrees make them alluring superstars for fans to follow.

The first time these two met, few fight fans were even aware of anything outside the UFC as far as mainstream MMA goes. Urijah Faber defeated Dominick Cruz over four years ago. This was a time when he was developing as one of the single most influential sub 155 pound fighters this sport had ever known. At this same time, Dom Cruz was just getting his feet wet at such a high level in this sport.

For an undefeated fighter making his mainstream MMA debut for a WEC title, Dom handled himself well against the “California Kid,” but when he strayed from a game plan that seemed to be working on Faber, Cruz found himself deep in the business end of a world class guillotine choke.

Now, four years later, much has changed. The smaller weight divisions have earned the respect they always deserved. Mainstream fans have begun to recognize and support the Cruzes and Fabers of the world for what they are, and that would be some of the most exciting athletes in the sport.

And these two who met so long ago are not even close to the same fighters they were then. The sport has changed, the fans have changed and most importantly, the fighters have changed.

Now, Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz will settle the score, along with quite a bit of bad blood. And the MMA world is watching very closely. The rivalries in this sport have been well documented with names like Liddell and Ortiz (or Couture; take your pick). On the other hand, we have Penn and GSP or Big Nog and Fedor, just to name a couple.

The bottom line is, certain fighters are destined for one another. Certain fighters are so elite they can rarely find the types of challenges they find with their most respected or in some cases most bitter rivals. Cruz and Faber are somewhere on that spectrum.

Having only battled once, there is still more than enough history between these two and their camps. They are not unfamiliar with each other at all. In some way, shape or form, they have been in opposite corners on many occasions, with various outcomes leaving them both craving further competition.

So now the top dog of Team Alpha Male will face Alliance MMA’s most celebrated fighter. These two camps have been doing battle for some time now, with Alliance MMA coming out on top as of late. Faber’s protege Joseph Benavidez has lost twice under dominant performances of Cruz.

Obviously, for a teacher to see his student lose one sided affairs to a man he once beat, Faber has found a little discontent for Cruz. And Cruz is not preparing any Christmas cards for the Alpha Male team, either.

So of course, whenever there is bad blood, the fans huddle around to drink in the drama. Oh, how drama herds the sheep. What is most amazing about all of this is one simple thing. Faber and Cruz are no dummies; they are promoting this fight to the moon and back. They talk a hard game, but they can more than back it up.

If they can get the world to pay attention to the left hand all the while holding in their right hand the keys to what could potentially become one of the greatest fights this sport has ever seen, well, what harm can a little extra trash talk do?

But unlike the masses, these two wizards of their craft understand the talk only goes skin deep. Their level of discontent with one another may blossom on the big stage, but its roots are found in what can only be defined as a deep respect for each other.

No man looks across the cage at his most heated adversary and thinks, “I’m gong to whip this punk’s ass.” The fact of the matter is if that man across the cage had not earned his deepest respect, he would not be worthy of even being considered a rival in the first place.

The difference between a mark and a rival is a mark is hunted and used; a rival is always on the radar lest they become the hunter.

Make no mistake, while they may not be pen pals, these two are fully aware of what is at stake Saturday night and what the risks involved are when they enter that Octagon together. Pride may veil it with a curtain of disrespect or trash talk, but rest assured there is a mutual level of respect here that can not be overlooked by either man or their fans.

What is most amazing about this fight is the attention it has received, the buzz it has created within the MMA community, the media attention it has lured. Because again, what is about to happen Saturday night is going to change the bantamweight division forever.

Urijah Faber has long been considered one of the faces of this sport; he earned that distinguished honor as an elite competitor with lightning pumping through his veins. Win or lose, this guy is never ever in a boring fight. He is an amazing competitor and crucial component to the sport. He defended the WEC featherweight title five times.

His name will go down in MMA history.

Dominick Cruz has proved to be one of the sport’s most influential fighters as a top pound for pound contender and a unique style that is now appearing in regional MMA cages across the country. His one of a kind approach is both effective and entertaining and people are paying attention. His talents made him the final WEC and first ever UFC bantamweight champion.

His name will go down in MMA history.

It just so happens that these two gentlemen are scheduled for a five round title fight at UFC 132, and what will happen when those cage doors close is anyone’s guess. Outcomes are one thing, but one guarantee is this: When it is over, nobody who sees this will ever forget it.

These two have a role to play in the history of this sport and this division. What they do in that cage Saturday night will represent the pure potential for what this sport can become. It will take the greatest Urijah Faber we have ever seen to beat Cruz and nothing less than the most impressive Dom Cruz ever can defeat Faber.

Not one person should expect anything less than either of those two versions appearing on fight night. It is inconceivable to consider how this actually might go down, and equally inconceivable why anyone in their right mind would miss this fight.

See you Saturday night, fight fans.

 

This article originally featured at Hurtsbad MMA.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber Will Raise the Bar in the UFC Bantamweight Division

As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to evolve and grow, its fans grow along with it. MMA has transformed from its open weight bare knuckle roots to the UFC now talking about adding an eighth weight class. The transformation has been nothing sh…

As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to evolve and grow, its fans grow along with it. MMA has transformed from its open weight bare knuckle roots to the UFC now talking about adding an eighth weight class.

The transformation has been nothing short of astonishing. One of the huge reasons the UFC can even consider adding a 125 pound weight class is due to the success Zuffa has found incorporating smaller weight divisions into the UFC.

Obviously, that success gained traction under Zuffa’s WEC banner. The level of talent and competition that was bred inside that bright blue Octagon often rivaled, and at times exceeded, UFC events. Simply put, the smaller fighters can scrap and have proven more than capable of captivating the MMA community.

It is fighters like Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz that exemplify exactly why the community has embraced these lighter but equally as entertaining combatants. Their fierce combination of precision, aggression, showmanship and their championship pedigrees make them alluring superstars for fans to follow.

The first time these two met, few fight fans were even aware of anything outside the UFC as far as mainstream MMA goes. Urijah Faber defeated Dominick Cruz over four years ago. This was a time when he was developing as one of the single most influential sub 155 pound fighters this sport had ever known. At this same time, Dom Cruz was just getting his feet wet at such a high level in this sport.

For an undefeated fighter making his mainstream MMA debut for a WEC title, Dom handled himself well against the “California Kid,” but when he strayed from a game plan that seemed to be working on Faber, Cruz found himself deep in the business end of a world class guillotine choke.

Now, four years later, much has changed. The smaller weight divisions have earned the respect they always deserved. Mainstream fans have begun to recognize and support the Cruzes and Fabers of the world for what they are, and that would be some of the most exciting athletes in the sport.

And these two who met so long ago are not even close to the same fighters they were then. The sport has changed, the fans have changed and most importantly, the fighters have changed.

Now, Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz will settle the score, along with quite a bit of bad blood. And the MMA world is watching very closely. The rivalries in this sport have been well documented with names like Liddell and Ortiz (or Couture; take your pick). On the other hand, we have Penn and GSP or Big Nog and Fedor, just to name a couple.

The bottom line is, certain fighters are destined for one another. Certain fighters are so elite they can rarely find the types of challenges they find with their most respected or in some cases most bitter rivals. Cruz and Faber are somewhere on that spectrum.

Having only battled once, there is still more than enough history between these two and their camps. They are not unfamiliar with each other at all. In some way, shape or form, they have been in opposite corners on many occasions, with various outcomes leaving them both craving further competition.

So now the top dog of Team Alpha Male will face Alliance MMA’s most celebrated fighter. These two camps have been doing battle for some time now, with Alliance MMA coming out on top as of late. Faber’s protege Joseph Benavidez has lost twice under dominant performances of Cruz.

Obviously, for a teacher to see his student lose one sided affairs to a man he once beat, Faber has found a little discontent for Cruz. And Cruz is not preparing any Christmas cards for the Alpha Male team, either.

So of course, whenever there is bad blood, the fans huddle around to drink in the drama. Oh, how drama herds the sheep. What is most amazing about all of this is one simple thing. Faber and Cruz are no dummies; they are promoting this fight to the moon and back. They talk a hard game, but they can more than back it up.

If they can get the world to pay attention to the left hand all the while holding in their right hand the keys to what could potentially become one of the greatest fights this sport has ever seen, well, what harm can a little extra trash talk do?

But unlike the masses, these two wizards of their craft understand the talk only goes skin deep. Their level of discontent with one another may blossom on the big stage, but its roots are found in what can only be defined as a deep respect for each other.

No man looks across the cage at his most heated adversary and thinks, “I’m gong to whip this punk’s ass.” The fact of the matter is if that man across the cage had not earned his deepest respect, he would not be worthy of even being considered a rival in the first place.

The difference between a mark and a rival is a mark is hunted and used; a rival is always on the radar lest they become the hunter.

Make no mistake, while they may not be pen pals, these two are fully aware of what is at stake Saturday night and what the risks involved are when they enter that Octagon together. Pride may veil it with a curtain of disrespect or trash talk, but rest assured there is a mutual level of respect here that can not be overlooked by either man or their fans.

What is most amazing about this fight is the attention it has received, the buzz it has created within the MMA community, the media attention it has lured. Because again, what is about to happen Saturday night is going to change the bantamweight division forever.

Urijah Faber has long been considered one of the faces of this sport; he earned that distinguished honor as an elite competitor with lightning pumping through his veins. Win or lose, this guy is never ever in a boring fight. He is an amazing competitor and crucial component to the sport. He defended the WEC featherweight title five times.

His name will go down in MMA history.

Dominick Cruz has proved to be one of the sport’s most influential fighters as a top pound for pound contender and a unique style that is now appearing in regional MMA cages across the country. His one of a kind approach is both effective and entertaining and people are paying attention. His talents made him the final WEC and first ever UFC bantamweight champion.

His name will go down in MMA history.

It just so happens that these two gentlemen are scheduled for a five round title fight at UFC 132, and what will happen when those cage doors close is anyone’s guess. Outcomes are one thing, but one guarantee is this: When it is over, nobody who sees this will ever forget it.

These two have a role to play in the history of this sport and this division. What they do in that cage Saturday night will represent the pure potential for what this sport can become. It will take the greatest Urijah Faber we have ever seen to beat Cruz and nothing less than the most impressive Dom Cruz ever can defeat Faber.

Not one person should expect anything less than either of those two versions appearing on fight night. It is inconceivable to consider how this actually might go down, and equally inconceivable why anyone in their right mind would miss this fight.

See you Saturday night, fight fans.

 

This article originally featured at Hurtsbad MMA.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 132: Is Dominick Cruz the Next Floyd Mayweather of Mixed Martial Arts?

Dominick Cruz Sets Sights on Victory Over Urijah Faber and MMA Stardom at UFC 132To compare an MMA fighter like Dominick Cruz, a participant in this weekend’s UFC 132 festivities in Las Vegas, to superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. may sound to some l…

Dominick Cruz Sets Sights on Victory Over Urijah Faber and MMA Stardom at UFC 132

To compare an MMA fighter like Dominick Cruz, a participant in this weekend’s UFC 132 festivities in Las Vegas, to superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. may sound to some like a put-down or an insult, considering the storm of controversy surrounding Mayweather Jr.’s refusal to fight fellow boxing great Manny Pacquiao lest Pacquiao submit himself a strenuous battery of drug tests to be administered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

However, to take the comparison as such would overlook the fact that both Cruz and Mayweather are tremendous talents in their respective combat sports, guys with the kind of raw ability to give them a significant edge over any opponent on any given night, assuming each has put in the requisite time and effort in the gym to prepare.

The big difference between the two, aside from the fact that they compete in very different sports, is the notion that Mayweather is a household name in his sport while Cruz is far from it in his.

In fact, Cruz enters his match with Urijah Faber on Saturday as the incumbent bantamweight title belt holder and the odd’s on favorite to retain his hold on the top spot on his weight class.

Nevertheless, it’s Faber who’s the big ticket name on the marquee at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the face of the weekend’s events and one of UFC’s most consequential rising stars.

So why the lack of respect for Cruz and his 17-1 career record?

That one loss on his record came, of course, at the hands of one Urijah Faber. It was all the way back in March of 2007 that Cruz checked in for his first fight as a member of World Extreme Cagefighting against Faber and checked out at the 1:38 mark of the first round when Faber forced Cruz into submission with a guillotine choke.

As such, Cruz will enter the Octagon on Saturday with a wealth of motivation for beating Faber into submission. Doing so would certainly boost Cruz’s profile among MMA fans who still don’t know who he is while avenging, for himself, that single smudge on his otherwise sparkling clean resume.

And, perhaps, such an outcome would help Cruz to assert himself as a fighting talent on the level of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. in boxing.

Which leaves one aching question: would that then make Faber the Manny Pacquiao of MMA, or might that be a bit too much praise too soon?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dana White Discusses UFC 132, Nate Marquardt and Spike TV Situation

Filed under: , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president Dana White about Saturday night’s UFC 132 event, building Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz, whether Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz are facing do-or-die situations on Saturday night, his take on the Nate Marquardt and Spike TV’s recent programming decisions when it comes to UFC.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president Dana White about Saturday night’s UFC 132 event, building Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz, whether Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz are facing do-or-die situations on Saturday night, his take on the Nate Marquardt and Spike TV’s recent programming decisions when it comes to UFC.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments