Dana White: Winner of Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles next in line for Bantamweight title shot
Posted on July 23, 2011, 06:24 PM by Joey SantosusIt appears top Bantamweight contender Urijah Faber, fresh off of his unanimous decision loss against division Champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 132, once again finds himself in line for a title shot. That's according to UFC President Dana White, who told ESPN.com that the winner of the upcoming clash between "The California Kid" and Brian Bowles at UFC 139 will be named number one contender.
"Both Urijah and Bowles lost to Cruz. The winner of their fight will earn a rematch," said White. "Johnson is 9-1, on a four-fight win streak and beat former (Bantamweight) champ (Miguel) Torres in his last fight.
Both Faber and Bowles have attempted and failed to dethrone the champ, who will first meet surging contender Demetrious Johnson in October. Though Faber admits he would have preferred an immediate rubber match with Cruz, he says he doesn't mind the extra motivation that facing a fighter like Bowles provides.
"I definitely want the rematch with Cruz," Faber explained. "It's a fight that needs to happen. But I'm fine with having another fight going into it. It definitely gives me extra motivation. Beating Brian Bowles is just one step closer to getting that belt. I'm sure Brian Bowles is motivated himself to get another shot."
Urijah Faber is currently the only fighter to ever take a victory over Dominick Cruz, submitting the Alliance MMA fighter just over a minute into the opening round of the champ's WEC debut. The two met again earlier this month, with Cruz emerging victorious following a closely contested five-round war. So what do you think LowKick'ers? Will we see a third installment anytime soon, or will Brian Bowles and/or Demetrious Johnson ruin Faber's plans?
Props to MMAMania.com
Photo: Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz fight at UFC 132 event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo Credit: Scott Hirano.
Comments
Wow, the ego on this little guy. This fight does not "need" to happen- guess it does in his mind.
I think it does. I think he's the only guy that can win against Cruz.
There aren't enough top level fighters in that division so they don't really have a choice if they want to let Dominic Cruz fight 3 times a year. Plus the both of them can sell a card and put up a good fight
Good point but then again, by Urijah's logic, a rematch with Aldo "needs" to happen too. Doubt we'll see that anytime soon.
Urijah just rubs me the wrong way, but i still think he is a great fighter. I'm pulling for Bowles in this fight, seems like its gonna be a great fight
You dont know him personally so you cant say he rubs you wrong way.
You don't have to know someone personally to have them rub you the wrong way. that makes no sense. Obama rubs me the wrong way. And I hate his guts with a passion for helping leeches on welfare even more than they were already leeching. I don't know him personally. But he sure rubs me the wrong way.
ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
lack of depth anyone?
cool news and i dont mind seen a re match of either fighters but i'll continue to root for faber and hopefully the winner in the next tittle fight weather its Cruz or Johnson come out healthy and uninjured so this UFC 139 has this tittle fight.....gotta give props to Cruz the guy is hard working if he wins he will have 3 tittle defenses before the year is done
Cruz Faber 2 was a close fight, but not anywhere close enough to deserve and immediate rematch. It was on obvious unanimous decision. Just Cuz Faber almost won 2 round doesn't make him deserve a rematch. He's lucky as hell that he's still this close to the title. How many guys can lose as many fights in their last 6 fights as him. And still be getting title shots left and right. He's only won 3 fights since he lost his title. And he's lost 4, if you count both fights with Mike Brown.
Urijah is getting the easy road , by no means im saying
Brian Bowles is an easy fight what i mean is , he is getting
a No.1 contender fight right after a lost to the Champ
He should work his way up , Brad Picket was on a 9 fight win streak including Demetrious Johnson before losing to title contender Scott Jorgensen , he won his next fight after that but he is not near a title fight or even getting a fight with a guy in the Top 10
dang good point, thats pretty messed up for Picket
after dominick beats johnson there wont be any top level guys he hasnt beaten. Benavidez already lost to him twice and both Faber and bowles still have a chance for a rematch, both guys are in top five so a win over one another would put them into #1 contender seat.
There is that little nagging loss that Cruz suffered to Urijah though and Faber definetly gave Cruz the toughest fight. I think it's perfect that he fights once and if he wins against a guy like bowels then he deserves the shot again considering his circumstances with the champ. If he loses wtice though it should then be a while until he can get back if ever.
@mma15 & THE GREAT
Faber is the BJ Penn of the lighter weight classes, he will never have to work his way up any division he is in. BJ is by far the biggest draw at LW and the second biggest draw at WW, Faber is biggest draw at Bantam and Feather, plus he is a former champ. May not be fair but make sense, but he will be in limbo if he manages to beat Bowles but loose to cruz again.
pickett needs a few more wins, if brad wins his next, and johnson beats cruz, then there should be a rematch of pickett and johnson
**** Faber!
How many freakin" title fights is he gonna get.
You look at some other fighters (fitch, Miller, etc..) and they cant even get a sniff at a title shot for years .. even though they deserve one.
They just want him to be their "golden boy champ" so bad.
Personally i lose alot of respect for any fighter that RUNS from one weight class to another to avoid a certain fighter.
Franklin, Florian, Faber ... they will never be real champs to me even if they luck out and win.
I think there is a difference with Franklin he unlike the others Franklin moved up a weight class, and is fighting bigger guys, Florian and Faber moved down a weight class where they can be bullies.
Faber was a runt at 145 and his ideal weight class never existed for him until recently. Faber is no pussy and if you nead to be refreshed just watch any single fight he has ever been in. He dishes out nearly supernatural resistance even in his losses.
Faber is a real good fighter and a ****y bitch imo.
Hope that bowles puts him back in line !!
he is getting a title shot already? I think someone else should get a chance, Faber already had over 5
Even though Faber doesn't deserve this shot at all. It just goes to show the division needs more fighters. Cuz he probably still is the #2 guy. With Cruz being #1. I could see them fighting a few more times in the next 5 years. If the weight class doesn't evolve past one or both of them.
why should uriah shot for a title shot IF he beats Brian Bowles? he is not as special as he thinks