UFC Bantamweight Championship bout: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber
Odds: (-165 Cruz / +135 Faber )
Betting Pick: Faber
Bet on this fight at Bodog.com
In the main event of the evening, Bantamweight king Dominick Cruz will look to retain his title and avenge the only loss of his professional career against “The California Kid” Urijah Faber. When these two first met, in 2007, Faber choked Cruz out with a guillotine not even two minutes into the fight. Since then, though, Cruz has grown into an extremely dominant and well-rounded fighter while Faber has hit a few bumps in the road, and both guys have found homes in a new weight class. Still, Faber is one of the toughest guys in the world and is more than capable of finishing Cruz again, so this should be a very competitive main event.
For years, Urijah Faber was the most dominant fighter in the world at 145 pounds, but two brutal losses to Mike Thomas Brown and a crushing at the hands of current kingpin Jose Aldo sent him moving down to Bantamweight. Now he has a chance to become a two-division champion if he can replicate his dominant performance from 2007. Faber is extremely well-rounded, with effective and powerful striking, solid wrestling, and top-notch submissions. He has already proven that he has the submission prowess to finish Cruz, but Cruz has become very good at taking opponents off their game and neutralizing their offense, so Faber is going to need to be aggressive and try to impose his gameplan from beginning to end if he wants to capture his second belt.
Dominick Cruz is not always the most enjoyable fighter in the world to watch, but there is no denying his effectiveness. Cruz is an enigma in that he isn’t really dominant at any one thing, but he is pretty good at everything and has an uncanny ability to throw his opponents off, keep them from mounting an effective offense, and do enough to score points and secure decision wins. Cruz’s biggest problem is that he is not a very prolific finisher and he rarely if ever dominates the action in his fights. He is extremely effective and an accomplished winner, but he lacks the ability to control opponents and allows them to hang around the entire fight, which can cause problems against prolific finishers.
It seems unlikely that Faber will finish Cruz in 90 seconds like he did the first time, but I still think this is a great matchup for him. Faber is very aggressive and can finish fights standing and on the ground, which makes him the perfect foil for Cruz’s more conservative, point-scoring style. Cruz’s biggest strength is his ability to draw opponents into his game, but Faber’s constant aggression and forward movement, coupled with his superior wrestling and submission game, should allow him to keep Cruz from dragging him into an offensive rut. I think Faber will wear Cruz down by landing shots, putting him on his back, and threatening with submissions before capitalizing in the later rounds. Faber by submission.
Prediction: Urijah “The California Kid” via fourth round rear naked choke.
- Bet on the UnderDog Faber @+123 for the Win.
To add a little more excitement on fight night, you can bet on this fight at Bodog.com Odds. Check out my review of Bodog here…
