UFC 132: THE RESULTS – Dominick Cruz – Urijah Faber SHOCKER

By Siri Karri

So, RSR readers may remember earlier that I said UFC 132 had HUGE expectations to live up to after the spectacular fights from UFC on Versus 4 just a week ago. Well, looks like $59.99 is a perfectly reasonable price to charge if you manage to put on a card like that. Some were shocking, some were expected, but every fight managed to get me out of my seat. With no exaggeration, each of these fights was significant to their respective divisions.

1) Carlos Condit is the #1 title contender

Now this fight was over FAST, with Condit absolutely dominating the grapple savvy Dong Hyun Kim. Kim scored a trademark takedown, Condit threatened a submission and reversed and when the fight went back to the feet he landed a flying knee that downed the South Korean prospect.

Now because of the quick finish, I need to establish something here. Dong Hyun Kim was not overrated; Carlos Condit is simply that good. He was always a flashy, creative striker as well as a solid ground fighter but he seemed a little overwhelmed by the talent in the UFC. His fights with Martin Kampmann, Jake Ellenberger and Rory MacDonald were simply too close for comfort and it looked like Condit would never establish the dominance he had in the WEC.

With back to back knockouts of Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim, the Carlos Condit of old is back. As per usual, Georges St. Pierre has always been so dominant that marketing valid opponents against him has always been a struggle, but Carlos Condit is without a doubt the biggest threat to him right now. Dong Hyun Kim is a physically stronger grappler than St. Pierre and Condit’s ground game neutralized it without much trouble. Hopefully, unlike Shields and Koscheck, Condit will make a fight of it.

2) Old dogs can still bite; Tito Ortiz finishes Ryan Bader

Understand what I’m about to tell you is the truth. As I was watching this fight, I was texting fellow RSR writer Sean Farrell about the fight. He expressed passionately that his night would be ruined if Tito Ortiz won and I, being the wonderful human being I am, began jabbing him about the possibility about Ortiz pulling off the upset. Now about 10 seconds after I sent that text, Tito Ortiz smashed Ryan Bader with an uppercut and finished him with a vice-like guillotine choke (much to the chagrin of Sean).

Now, I’m not saying Tito is in any way a legitimate title contender for the belt, but it’s nice to see that he’s become more than a whipping boy for up and coming light-heavyweights. After his unanimous decision loss to Matt Hamill earlier this year, losing to Bader seemed a gimme; Bader was stronger, faster, younger and with a better record. Instead of relying on his wrestling or agility like Tito used to in his youth, he got in and used some dirty boxing to drop the former title prospect to his knees.

Who knows, the next fight could be Tito’s last as one spectacular win isn’t enough to convince me that he stands a chance against the division’s elite. It sure was nice to see an old dog fight back though.

3) Siver isn’t ready for a lightweight title shot

I, as many critics, was utterly surprised by Siver’s domination of George Sotiropoulos in his previous fight. At first glance, Sotiropoulos seemed like a silky smooth striker with a god-like ground game that even Brazilian Jiu Jitsu aces such as Joe Lauzon couldn’t solve. But from his loss to Siver, I realized there were gaping (yet well covered) holes in Sotiropoulos’s game.

For starters, Sotiropoulos didn’t have very good takedowns. Granted, once the fight was on the ground he was an utter terror, but he didn’t have the skills of many of the division’s wrestlers to actually get it there. Also, while his stand up technique was smooth, it was pretty slow. So when Siver repeatedly dropped Sotiropoulos and shrugged off his takedowns, I wondered whether Siver was good or Sotiropoulos was just bad.

With Siver matched up against a superior takedown artist in Matt Wiman and Sotiropoulos getting KO’d by Rafael Dos Anjos, I vote for the second.

Ignoring the judging controversy (the crowd clearly thought Wiman won the 3rd round, while the judges all gave it to Siver), it’s apparent that Siver’s takedown defense still isn’t up to par. The only reason Wiman was ever in the fight was because he managed to wrestle Siver to the ground on multiple occasions to negate the dangerous kickboxer. Siver won, but look at the top 4 prospects in the lightweight division right now.

Champion Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Clay Guida, and Anthony Pettis. All are superb athletes with unbelievable wrestling skills. Yeah, Siver is on a four fight win streak, but he isn’t ready for any title shot.

4) Wanderlei Silva needs to retire or rethink his game plan

Okay, I called his happening . . . kind of. I said that if Wanderlei Silva charged in against Chris Leben, he would get countered by a left hand and be put to sleep. They keyword was “if”: there was no way a seasoned veteran like Wanderlei Silva would invest in a suicidal game plan when he was more than capable of sticking and moving against the slower Leben.

My bad.

Instead, in 27 seconds, Wanderlei came in wildly and got put to sleep by a series of left hands from the “Crippler”. And now it’s come to this moment. The same crossroads that Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture came to in their careers: What next?

Chuck Liddell refused to back down, and continued his ways as one of MMA’s most heralded strikers. He was knocked out so many times that Dana White was forced to step in on his behalf and Chuck was carried out of the octagon on his shield like a true warrior. Randy changed his game plan, utilizing a more grinding style of wrestling while relying less and less on his boxing. He was boring, but his career was lengthened significantly.

So Wanderlei must now consider this; what is the right thing. Does he continue fighting the way he does for the sake of MMA’s fans? It worked against fighters such as Rich Franklin and Michael Bisping, and there aren’t enough fighters in the middleweight division with knockout power like Leben’s. But every knockout brings him closer to the point where he may not be allowed to . . . even ABLE to fight. The alternative is a form of spiritual betrayal; for the “Axe Murderer” to become subdued . . . just another MMA fighter. It would be heartbreaking, though arguably just as heartbreaking as seeing Wanderlei Silva unconscious on the Octagon floor yet again.

So what now Wand? What now?

5) Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber need a rubber match

As good as Dominick Cruz is, he doesn’t finish people. He runs around them landing shots willy-nilly but in the end his opponents can always walk out on their own two feet. His is “soft dominance”: the type of dominance that produces a “W” at the end of the fight, but few lasting memories. Unlike the featherweight division which in a short time has produced a stable of stars such as Leonard Garcia, The Korean Zombie, Mike Brown and current champion Jose Aldo. The bantamweight division thus far has remained anonymous and Cruz is a part of that.

Yes, the featherweight division has ex-UFC fighters such as Jens Pulver and Leonard Garcia for star power but the real reason the featherweight division has become legitimate is Jose Aldo. You see, not many people knew (or cared) about Mark Hominick or Manny Gamburyan before their fights with Aldo. To those who have been living under a rock, Jose Aldo is hands down the most exciting fighter in MMA right now. Barring his last fight in which he was sick and packed too much muscle, every one of his fights was a highlight reel straight out of the matrix.

So when Manny backed up Jose Aldo with a right hand in the first round, everyone went, “WOAH!”. It didn’t matter that Jose would then dominate and knock him out in two rounds; Manny Gamburyan had made his mark. When Mark Hominick survived an enormous hematoma (blood blister) on his head and nearly TKO’d Jose Aldo in the 5th round, Mark Hominick became a household name. Simply put, if you come out to fight . . . Jose Aldo will make you famous. Seriously, ask around MMA circles and everyone will know who Mark Hominick, Manny Gamburyan, Mike Brown, and Cub Swanson are.

Cruz doesn’t have that. Surviving against Cruz isn’t really a big deal when Cruz has made such little effort to finish his opponents. Oh cool, you landed one punch on Cruz? You managed to stuff one of his takedowns? No one gives a damn. I challenge you casual MMA fans to name the last 3 opponents Cruz fought that WEREN’T named Joseph Benavidez. Chances are casual MMA fans can’t . . . and that’s bad.

Urijah Faber pushed the normally lackadaisical Dominick Cruz to his limit, dropping him a total of 3 times with well-timed right hands and refusing to let the normally elusive champion rest. It’s the first bantamweight title fight in recent memory that I actually enjoyed watching, and solely on principal Urijah should get another shot. This leads into the bigger problem . . . if not Urijah Faber, who will get the next title shot?

I’m sure MMA pundits could throw out names, so let me rephrase the question more specifically: who can we put against Cruz that people will give a damn about? Cruz’s brand of dominance and the lack of pre-established stars have made the bantamweight division self-parasitic; it has no star power and lacks the ability to produce any. How Dana White plans to solve this problem is beyond me, but one thing remains clear.

The next man in the cage against Dominick Cruz should be, without a doubt, Urijah Faber.