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The UFC always makes their Fourth of July weekend card one of the best of the year, and this year might be the best they’ve ever had. The first-ever UFC bantamweight title fight is going down this weekend, and we can’t ask for a better matc…
The UFC always makes their Fourth of July weekend card one of the best of the year, and this year might be the best they’ve ever had.
The first-ever UFC bantamweight title fight is going down this weekend, and we can’t ask for a better matchup than bitter rivals Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
Throw in a guaranteed slugfest between Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva, plus what may be the final fight for Tito Ortiz inside the Octagon, and this may be the best card of 2011.
UFC 132 goes down Saturday, and it features a highly anticipated title fight between UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz (17-1) and former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber (25-4).Also on the card, middleweight brawlers Chris Leben and Wander…
UFC 132 goes down Saturday, and it features a highly anticipated title fight between UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz (17-1) and former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber (25-4).
Also on the card, middleweight brawlers Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva prepare to slug it out while former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz meets Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader.
Other main-card fights include Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim and Matt Wiman vs. Dennis Siver.
These are my predictions for fight, knockout and submission of the night.
Fight of the Night: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber
This is such a hard fight to predict, and it’s one that is bound to go the distance. Is there any way it could be anything other than one of the best bantamweight fights in the history of MMA? I don’t think so.
Cruz comes into the fight as the champion with only one loss on his record that came at the hands of Faber from over four years ago. “The California Kid” hasn’t had the greatest record as of late, going 4-3 in his last seven bouts.
Nobody is going to be more determined than Cruz on fight night, especially with his only loss being to Faber, and it should make for a memorable back-and-forth battle between the two of the UFC’s biggest and lightest stars. Faber has the durability to go all five rounds if he finds himself having more trouble than he might anticipate.
Knockout of the Night: Wanderlei Silva
I’d actually predict this fight to be fight of the night if it didn’t have the word “knockout” written all over it.
Chris Leben (25-7) comes into this fight with a loss to Brian Stann in his last fight. He was knocked out by the heavy-handed opponent in the first round. Silva (33-10-1) hasn’t fought since defeating Michael Bisping at UFC 110 in February 2010. “The Axe Murderer” will definitely be looking to land some heavy blows on the iron-chin of Leben.
This may come down to who lands first, but it may also be a question of who has the better chin at this point in their careers.
I predict the first round to be an all-out slugfest with both fighters being hurt at some point. I’m not predicting a one-punch knockout, but I think Silva can get to Leben in the second round with a flurry of strikes. Dana White will compensate the winner for his effort with a knockout of the night bonus, whomever it is.
Submission of the Night: Shane Roller
If Melvin Guillard (27-8-2) loses to Shane Roller (10-3), it’s going to probably be by submission. Out of all the fighters on the card, Roller has the most likely chance of submitting his opponent. Roller also has two past submission of the night bonuses when he defeated Jamie Varner and Danny Castillo in the WEC.
Guillard is currently on a four-fight win streak and is coming off his impressive knockout win over Evan Dunham while Roller is 10-2 in his last 12 bouts with his only losses coming from former WEC Lightweight Champions Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis. The momentum is definitely on Guillard’s side going into this bout so I’m not as confident in this pick as much as the others.
Seven of Guillard’s eight losses are by submission so I’m predicting the NCAA Division I wrestler gets it to the ground at some point if he doesn’t get caught early and catches him in a choke.
UFC 132: News, Predictions, Results and More
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LAS VEGAS — Watch below as Urijah Faber talks about his UFC 132 title fight against Dominick Cruz, how important this fight is to him, his relationship with Cruz, his “No Shirt Nation” and Rosie O’Donnell.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News, Videos
LAS VEGAS — Watch below as Urijah Faber talks about his UFC 132 title fight against Dominick Cruz, how important this fight is to him, his relationship with Cruz, his “No Shirt Nation” and Rosie O’Donnell.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News, Videos
LAS VEGAS — Watch below as UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz talks about settling the score with Urijah Faber at UFC 132, making his UFC debut, getting the respect believes he deserves from the MMA community and his surgically-repaired hand.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, News, Videos
LAS VEGAS — Watch below as UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz talks about settling the score with Urijah Faber at UFC 132, making his UFC debut, getting the respect believes he deserves from the MMA community and his surgically-repaired hand.
(Wanderlei Silva: You couldn’t last five minutes in this man’s world.)
UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber goes down Saturday night in Las Vegas, and in case you’re feeling some MMA fatigue after five consecutive weeks of events, let us remind you — this card has the potential to be a real son-of-a-bitch. Familiarize yourself with the lineup here, and get your juices flowing again by watching some career highlights from the fighters on the card. Enjoy…
(Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine, UFC 110, 2/21/10)
(Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver, UFC 86, 7/5/08)
(Wanderlei Silva: You couldn’t last five minutes in this man’s world.)
UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber goes down Saturday night in Las Vegas, and in case you’re feeling some MMA fatigue after five consecutive weeks of events, let us remind you — this card has the potential to be a real son-of-a-bitch. Familiarize yourself with the lineup here, and get your juices flowing again by watching some career highlights from the fighters on the card. Enjoy…
(Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine, UFC 110, 2/21/10)
(Melvin Guillard vs. Dennis Siver, UFC 86, 7/5/08)
(Wanderlei Silva vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, PRIDE Total Elimination 2003, 8/10/03)
(Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock 2, UFC 61, 7/8/06; fight starts at the 10:18 mark)
(Carlos Condit vs. Renato “Charuto” Verissimo, Rumble on the Rock 8, 1/20/06)
(Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz, WEC 26, 3/24/07; click image to go to video)
(Shane Roller vs. Thiago Tavares, UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann, 3/3/11)
(Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin, UFC Fight Night 11, 9/19/07)
(Anthony Njokuani vs. Chris Horodecki, WEC 45, 12/19/09)
The Bantamweight division joined the UFC in late 2010. The division was absorbed when the UFC collapsed the remaining WEC divisions into the UFC and the WEC ceased to exist as a promotion.UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber will …
The Bantamweight division joined the UFC in late 2010. The division was absorbed when the UFC collapsed the remaining WEC divisions into the UFC and the WEC ceased to exist as a promotion.
UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber will be the first time the UFC bantamweight title is put on the line by the current champion Dominick Cruz. The last time Cruz defended a title was when it was still the WEC bantamweight title back in December 2010 against Scott Jorgensen.
This Saturday Cruz will be defending his title against the former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber.
This title fight signifies the arrival of the bantamweight division in the UFC. Up until recently, the smaller weight classes have had to fight for recognition. Of course there was the WEC, which did an excellent job at showcasing the lighter weight classes, but as a promotion it simply didn’t have the ability to promote and reach the same numbers of people as the UFC can right now.
Some people question the fact that Faber was granted a title shot due to the fact that he only has two wins in the division and prior to those wins was a mediocre 2-3 in the featherweight division after losing his title. That being said, who else would be better than Faber right now?
By giving Faber the title shot the UFC drastically increases the exposure of its bantamweight division to the fans.
People need to remember that despite Faber’s struggles at featherweight after losing the title to Mike Brown, he, for better or for worse was the poster boy of the WEC and the only real pillar who was recognized by more than just the hardcore mixed martial arts fans in the world.
What Faber built in the WEC will stay with him right through his career. Any fighter who defends his title five times and posts up a 21-1 record over their first 22 fights is going to be treated with higher regard. Just look at the chances Wanderlei Silva has been given, the guy is around a .500 fighter since 2005, but because of what he did in Pride and the excitement he brings in the cage he has a long leash with the promotion.
Couple Faber’s past with the facts that he has always been a company man and that his fight this Saturday with Cruz is in fact a rematch and the writing is on the wall—UFC 132 will be great for the bantamweight division regardless of the outcome.
Whether Cruz retains or loses his title to Faber is moot, the mere fact that he is fighting Faber means that his popularity with fans will rise and it will help strengthen the division as a whole which is great for all involved parties, including the fans.
Although Cruz has improved a lot over the last year, Faber is 2-0 in the bantamweight division despite recent struggles at featherweight.
If there is one thing people can praise Faber for, it is his ability to endure through a fight despite being seriously banged up, and he is a guy with a strong motor that pushes the pace and keeps things exciting for the fans.
Whether you agree or not that Faber received the bantamweight title shot so soon is irrelevant, the important thing to take away from this weekend’s matchup is that the fans and the rest of the bantamweight division are the winners in all this.
Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: 
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