Cruz, after losing a featherweight title bout against WEC champ Urijah Faber was seen in his next fight with the WEC as a bantamweight. From a fan’s perspective, it seemed Cruz was retreating to a lower weight class after losing to Faber in less than two minutes.
Faber went on to be the longest reigning WEC Champion in the promotions short history, defending the belt five times until relinquishing the title to Mike Brown in 2008. After a submission of the night victory over the UFC’s first lightweight champion, Jens Pulver, Faber had another title shot against Brown. The rematch ended with Faber on the wrong side of a five-round decision, and Faber was back in the hunt for another shot at his belt.
After yet another submission of the night victory, this time over Raphael Assuncao, Faber was awarded his next shot at the title, this time against reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, José Aldo. As one could guess, with Aldo being labeled “reigning UFC Featherweight Champion” Faber was unsuccessful yet again. The man who was the face of the WEC, and still today the most popular fighter at the weight classes under 155, seemed to have hit a wall in his MMA career.
Meanwhile, Dominick Cruz went on a tear through the WEC’s bantamweight division and captured the title just three years after his loss to Faber for the featherweight title. After snatching the title from Brian Bowles, Cruz went on to defend against two top 5 opponents both of who have close ties to Faber. Joseph Benavidez, a teammate of Faber, and Scott Jorgensen, a close friend and training partner of Faber both dropped decisions to Cruz in 2010. All three of these fighters, Benavidez, Faber and Jorgensen are sponsored by the Urijah Faber created, Form Athletics fight team.
So does Cruz have a personal vendetta against Faber? Slowly dispatching his team, one would think so. Cruz has his sights on the team leader, the man who handed him his only, and quite embarrassing defeat. These two have apparently been on a crash course for a rematch.
Fans anxious for the title fight don’t necessarily have to wait until Saturday night to see the two fighters exchanging shots. “The Dominator” and “The California Kid” have been firing at one another through their Twitter accounts for the past week leading up to fight night. Faber has dubbed Cruz, “The Irritator” and Cruz sent Faber a video making fun of his “butt chin.” Faber, in retribution, fired back by making a video that poked fun at Cruz’s weasel-like chuckle.
A fight with so much hype and trash talk behind it, coupled with a nice back-story is just the main event the UFC has been missing lately. Faber-Cruz 2 for the UFC’s Bantamweight title is sure to deliver. Faber, a slim underdog in the betting world poses a serious threat that Cruz’s other opponents have not. Faber possesses something Jorgensen and Benavidez do not, and that is star power. No Super Mario reference here, Faber’s popularity may not inherently be what wins him the fight, but there is a reason the guy is so popular, and that is what will win him the fight. Fans like to see scrappers, and that is exactly what Faber is. He isn’t afraid to stand and trade with anyone, and he is a very dynamic striker, meaning he is quick and powerful.
Cruz is a different kind of fighter. He is a workhorse. He outworks and outlasts all of his competitors, and his heart is unquestionable. While this isn’t necessarily the recipe for a bad fighter, it isn’t the type that wins over fans. This is not to say that the man with the fans always wins the fights, but fans don’t like losers either. Fans like dynamic strikers that win fights, and that is Urijah Faber.
10 of Cruz’s 17 victories have been by decision, while Faber has finished 20 of his 25 victories. Again a finisher wins over fans. The combination of winning, finishing fights and being a great striker won Urijah Faber his vast fan base and it will win him the title of UFC Bantamweight Champion this Saturday night with a TKO victory in round 2.
