Latest News Updates:UFC Gets Back to Title Fights With Faber-Cruz II: Gold will finally return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship's cage this weekend.The main event of UFC 132 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Spike TV; 9 ET, pay-per-view) in Las Vegas features bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber in the first 135-pound title bout for UFC since it absorbed World Extreme Cagefighting. It's also the first UFC title fight at any weight class in more than two months. Saturday's headliner gives Cruz a chance to avenge his only loss. Faber took 98 seconds to submit him with a guillotine choke in March 2007 when they were WEC featherweights. At the time, Faber was a champion and Cruz the cocky challenger who signed his name across his opponent's face on a poster. Now their roles have switched, with Faber facing an uphill climb against a vastly improved Cruz. BLOG: Cruz-Faber returns gold aura to UFC shows STORY: Ortiz, Silva aim to reclaim glory The bantamweight champion employs complex footwork that makes it hard for foes to set up takedowns or trap him against the cage. He darts in for quick combinations and dances away before counterstrikes can land. His boxing has become so effective, it's easy to forget about his wrestling. Over his last five fights, Cruz nailed 73% of his takedown attempts, according to FightMetric. Among UFC's other champions, only welterweight Georges St.Pierre has a better success rate. Cruz is even better at defense, stuffing 88.9% of takedown tries vs. him. One of Faber's top protégés, Joseph Benavidez, failed to get a single takedown in 11 tries against Cruz in August. It was Benavidez's second loss to Cruz in a year. Although Faber has a wrestling base, he's bigger than Benavidez, who only fights at 135 pounds because UFC lacks a 125-pound division. Faber became a featured star for WEC years ago as its featherweight champion, but he views bantamweight as a better fit. That, he says, makes him more dangerous to the 25-year-old Cruz now than he was four years ago. "I'm faster and at my more natural competition weight," Faber, 32, says. "I feel like I'm in the prime of my life."Friday, 1 July 2011
Latest News Updates:UFC Gets Back to Title Fights With Faber-Cruz II
Latest News Updates:UFC Gets Back to Title Fights With Faber-Cruz II: Gold will finally return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship's cage this weekend.The main event of UFC 132 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Spike TV; 9 ET, pay-per-view) in Las Vegas features bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber in the first 135-pound title bout for UFC since it absorbed World Extreme Cagefighting. It's also the first UFC title fight at any weight class in more than two months. Saturday's headliner gives Cruz a chance to avenge his only loss. Faber took 98 seconds to submit him with a guillotine choke in March 2007 when they were WEC featherweights. At the time, Faber was a champion and Cruz the cocky challenger who signed his name across his opponent's face on a poster. Now their roles have switched, with Faber facing an uphill climb against a vastly improved Cruz. BLOG: Cruz-Faber returns gold aura to UFC shows STORY: Ortiz, Silva aim to reclaim glory The bantamweight champion employs complex footwork that makes it hard for foes to set up takedowns or trap him against the cage. He darts in for quick combinations and dances away before counterstrikes can land. His boxing has become so effective, it's easy to forget about his wrestling. Over his last five fights, Cruz nailed 73% of his takedown attempts, according to FightMetric. Among UFC's other champions, only welterweight Georges St.Pierre has a better success rate. Cruz is even better at defense, stuffing 88.9% of takedown tries vs. him. One of Faber's top protégés, Joseph Benavidez, failed to get a single takedown in 11 tries against Cruz in August. It was Benavidez's second loss to Cruz in a year. Although Faber has a wrestling base, he's bigger than Benavidez, who only fights at 135 pounds because UFC lacks a 125-pound division. Faber became a featured star for WEC years ago as its featherweight champion, but he views bantamweight as a better fit. That, he says, makes him more dangerous to the 25-year-old Cruz now than he was four years ago. "I'm faster and at my more natural competition weight," Faber, 32, says. "I feel like I'm in the prime of my life."
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