Faber thought he won, would love a rematch
Dominick Cruz fought Urijah Faber to a hard won decision victory, keeping his UFC Bantamweight title and gaining revenge for…
Dominick Cruz fought Urijah Faber to a hard won decision victory, keeping his UFC Bantamweight title and gaining revenge for a 2007 loss. Now we look ahead and ask ourselves where the Bantamweight division goes from here.
The answer? Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber 3.
If fans hear about a great fight that they missed, it becomes a strong selling point for the rematch. Add in the story of the two men being 1-1 and needing a tie breaker, the close nature of last night’s scoring, and you have a much more marketable 3rd fight than you saw in the 2nd fight.
More importantly, the UFC and the Bantamweight division need this fight next, as they have painted themselves into a corner with the division. Ask yourself this: if Faber is not the next challenger for Cruz, who is? With wins over Joseph Benavidez, Scott Jorgensen, Brian Bowles, and now Faber, Cruz is dangerously close to cleaning out the somewhat shallow BW ranks. The only real contenders he has not yet defeated are Takeya Mizugaki (just defeated last night), Miguel Torres (recently lost), and Demetrious Johnson (not quite a title threat yet, and likely dropping down to Flyweight soon). The rightful #1 contender at this point is Bowles. But Cruz has already defeated him, his fight last night was on the Facebook prelims (and was not a thrilling, fan friendly encounter), and it seems he will once again be sidelined with a broken hand. These things make a Bowles challenge significantly less appealing.
