Six Winners and Losers of UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber
Posted on June 4, 2011, 06:47 AM by Anton Gurevich
1. Tito Ortiz
The Huntington Beach Bad Boy Tito Ortiz is without a doubt the biggest winner of last Saturday's fight card. Ortiz defeated Ryan Bader via a Guillotine Choke, in what was his first victory since 2006 trilogy bout with Ken Shamrock. Tito Ortiz's grave-digging celebration was a very emotional moment to every MMA fan out there, especially those who follow Ortiz since his Octagon debut at UFC 13. Personally, I would be more than happy to see Ortiz fighting the winner of Rich Franklin vs. Rogerio Nogueira bout (UFC 133). After almost five years without a "W", Tito Ortiz may be en route to a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Amazing.
2. Dominick Cruz
Dominick Cruz proved once and for all that he's one of the best fighters on the planet. I rank Cruz #3 in my Pound for Pound list, below Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre, and above Jose Aldo and Jon Jones. Cruz's movement makes him a unique fighter not only in MMA but in any other type of combat sports, including Boxing and Kickboxing. Urijah Faber was without a doubt Cruz's toughest test, and perfect opportunity for "The Dominator" to prove his worth as a fighter. As for the future, I'm not sure whether fans would be that thrilled to see a rematch against Brian Bowles or a potential wrestling contest with Demetrius Johnson. What surely can be "fight for the ages" for Dominick Cruz, is the Champion vs. Champion superfight against the reigning UFC Featherweight King Jose Aldo Junior.
3. Bantamweight and Featherweight Divisions
The fight between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber was a great main event, which definitely proved that "small guys from WEC" are main card worthy. However, the dream fight between Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz is the only remaining match-up that can safely headline UFC fight card. It's hard to see Aldo or Dominick Cruz fighting in the main event against current top contenders in their divisions (Mendes/Florian and Bowles/Johnson). We might see Aldo and Cruz defending their titles once more, before what could be a perfect New Year's Eve headliner.
1. Urijah Faber
Only three years ago, Urijah Faber defeated Jens Pulver at WEC 34, in what was his fifth consecutive WEC Featherweight title defense. Faber looked unstoppable, but then came Mike Brown who shocked the world by knocking out "The California Kid" five months later. Since then, Faber won 4 non-title fights, and lost 3 title fights (Brown-Aldo-Cruz). I think many people would agree that we saw the best Urijah Faber in years against Dominick Cruz. But still, it was not enough for "The California Kid" to defeat Dominick Cruz, a man who he easily submitted in first round, more than four years ago. And unfortunately for Faber, he's not getting any younger. He's still a top fighter, but it's hard to see Faber dethroning Aldo/Cruz, unless one of them moves up in weight.
2. George Sotiropoulos
It was sad to see George Sotiropoulos following the footsteps of Josh Grispi, with a second consecutive defeat inside the Octagon. Only five months ago G-Sots was on an incredible 7-fight winning streak in the UFC, preparing to fight Dennis Siver at UFC 127 in Australia. Sotiropoulos is now far away from the Four Horsemen of the UFC Lightweight division – Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard, Jim Miller and Dennis Siver, just like Josh Grispi who lost his shot at Jose Aldo's title by losing to Dustin Poirier and George Roop. The Greek-Australian BJJ wizard will now move down to the "Facebook-aired undercard", where he will try to rebuild his top contender status in the UFC Lightweight division.
3. Joe Silva (UFC Matchmaker)
Well, not really a loser, but UFC 132 made sure the UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva will have a lot of "positive headache" with future match-ups. "The Four Horsemen" of the Lightweight division will probably fight each other in a mini-tournament for the #1 contender spot, while Carlos Condit joined Jake Ellenberger in race for a shot at the UFC Welterweight title. If Ellenberger defeats Jake Shields on September 17th, he may find himself one step ahead of Carlos Condit, to whom he lost via Split Decision at Fight Night 19 (September 2009). And of course, it will be interesting to see what's next for Dominick Cruz, Tito Ortiz and Brian Bowles.
Comments
i don't think Dennis Siver is going to be able to beat most of the top LW, I think Ben henderson has a much better chance at being the champ. But i think Guillard will be the champion.
I think Jim Miller and Guillard have the best chanes
Frankie, Melvin G, Gaynard & Jim Miller will stay at the top. Pettis in a year or two.
maynard*
I prefer Gaynard
Urijah got the FOTN bonus, He was one of two Bantamweight to headline a major UFC, he def. gained a ton of new fans and is probably gonna get an immediate rubber match with Cruz. Id say Faber is a winner
See what I wrote to Krogan. Faber will always be the baby face of the UFC. His legacy is undeniable - but just like Jon Fitch in WW, he has people he simply can't beat at BW and FW.
true, i like urijah a lot aNd feel bad that he is 32 and probably wont be champ again i like cruz aswell but i hope he moves up simply so faber can taste glory one more time plus dominick has pretty much cleaned out the division.
I agree with Taz.. The way Guillard has been fighting I cant see anyone stopping him for a while, including Edgar and Maynard. It'll be interesting to see who he fights next. Id like to see him fight Henderson or Miller for a title shot.
Cruz vs Faber was a great fight.Faber left it all ou there and so did Dominick.Unbelievable pass,great combo's and i think there should be a part 3.kida
How in all hell is Faber a bigger loser then the now no longer top 10 ranked Bader? Personally I think Faber fought a good fight and the decision really could have gone either way (thou I agree with giving the decision to the champ in close fights) but it wasn't really that Tito looked amazing (thou better then he has in a long time) Bader looked pretty bad.
Bader is irrelevant now and Faber is at most 1 fight from another tileshot.
Bader is 28 with 14 fights, Urijah Faber is 32 with 30 fights. That's the difference. Faber has two or three years to fight before "the big downfall in his form".
Faber lost 4.... 4! Title fights.
Sorry but Im with Krogan on this one. Bader is the bigger loser. He lost against Tito Ortiz who, although looked better than his last couple, still looked sub par. Urijah is fighting title fights against tough contenders, Bader can't make it passed Ortiz. Everyone expected the loss against Jones but Ortiz?! Cmon now. The Faber-Cruz fight was close enough, and marketable enough that we could see a part 3 in the near future, especially since there's not much left for Cruz at that weight except a rubber match. That being said, there is no such hope of Bader getting a title shot, and he just got knocked WAAAAAY down with that loss to Ortiz. Losing to Jones is one thing (he is the current champ), losing to Ortiz is gonna bum u down the rankings
Guillard should be on the winners list, He has very quick hands, great speed and foot work along with great wrestling skills, i really think he could be a great champion if he keeps working hard like he has been for his last couple of fights.
What Guillard won? Okay... he's in "The Four Horseman" list, alongside Miller, Siver and Guida. And just like G-Sots against Siver, one defeat takes him 10 steps back.
I don't understand what he won in this event other than beating the Top 30 at best Shane Roller.
I mean the list in this post, okay maybe Roller isn't a top contender but the fact is Guillard made easy work of him and looked great doing it, and if any of these guys lose they will go down the ranks, and i wouldn't put Siver in the top contenders (atleast not yet) as he didn't look so good at 132 except for okay takedown defence, i think Henderson or Pettis would beat Siver.
I think Siver would beat Pettis, but not Henderson or Guida. Guillard wouldn't make it passed Guida, but for some reason could see him being Edgar's kryptonite... Screw it, give Guillard to Penn if Penn would go back to LW.
Pettis is much faster than Siver, and he is very active on the ground.