Dominick Cruz and the 12 Most Frustrating UFC Fighters to Compete Against

It was pretty clear at UFC 132 that UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz frustrated Urijah Faber before winning a five-round unanimous decision to successfully retain his title.

Fans may say his "point-fighting" style is frustrating to watch, but it's a lot more frustrating for his opponents as they get picked apart by pin-point striking, including knees, kicks and punches.

The most frustrating fighters to compete against mostly include wrestlers, but there are a few in between that have done well using unique styles of fighting.

These are 12 of the most frustrating fighters to compete against in the UFC.

No. 12: Chris Leben

It's rare you will see a fighter frustrate their opponent with their ability to take a punch, but in Chris Leben's case, it's almost always the way he ends up winning his fights.

In one of his most memorable moments, he took a punch from Terry Martin that sent his head back but came back to land a right hand to put Martin to sleep.

After Martin landed his punch, he put his hands in the air as if he was asking himself, "What do I have to do to finish this guy?"

No. 11: Nick Diaz

There is nothing more frustrating than someone who comes into the cage and chooses to fight and beat you at your own game and does.

Nick Diaz does this in every one of his fights, and it has resulted in a 10-fight win streak with impressive victories over fighters like Paul Daley, Scott Smith and Frank Shamrock.

In his fight with Daley, who is regarded as the hardest puncher in the welterweight division, he took his best shots and landed his own.

The only difference was that Diaz was still standing in the end and came back to knock him out with a few seconds left in the round.

No. 10: Diego Sanchez

Whatever you do to this guy, he just keeps pressing forward.

When someone looks like what Diego Sanchez looked in his fight with Martin Kampmann and comes back to win, it takes a lot of heart and this can be a frustrating for an opponent who thinks they have already done more than enough to win but don't.

It's almost impossible to stop him from coming forward, especially when he knows he is losing in a fight.

He came back in fights against Paulo Thiago and Kampmann to win decisions in both. He took the best of what each offered, but it didn't faze him. He returned with his own offense in the second and third rounds to steal the win.

No. 9: Josh Koscheck

The frustration Josh Koscheck causes his opponents to have has already cost one fighter their job.

At UFC 113, the NCAA Division I wrestler took down and outwrestled hard-punching striker Paul Daley for three rounds and won a unanimous decision. The fight is most memorable for the post-fight punch delivered by Daley, which ended up costing him his job in the UFC.

Koscheck did more than just outwrestle him. He also was talking to him and doing in-fight trash talk to get him even more frustrated.

These are the types of things that will make a fighter lose focus of what they are there to do, usually resulting in a loss.

No. 8: Frankie Edgar

UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar is a similar fighter to Dominick Cruz. They really don't have the power to put someone away on the feet, which means they have to do one of the hardest things to do in fighting and win every round to make sure they secure themselves the decision victory if it goes that far.

It takes extreme concentration on Edgar's part, and this can take away from the opponent as they have trouble landing the single shots they are looking for.

In two fights with former two-division champion BJ Penn, Edgar visibly frustrated Penn for 10 rounds and won decisions in both.

Don't forget about the amount of heart he showed in his fight with Gray Maynard to come back and earn a draw while retaining his title.

No. 7: Anderson Silva

Pound-for-pound king and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva doesn't look easy to beat, and it's going to take a very confident and composed fighter to actually get the job done.

The Brazilian muay-thai expert and jiu-jitsu black belt can be frustrating to watch sometimes, but imagine what it's like for his opponents. Not even Chael Sonnen, who dominated Silva for four-and-a-half rounds, was safe as he lost by submission in the final round of their fight.

In his five round fights with Demian Maia and Thales Leites, Silva didn't give his opponents a chance to mount any offense while applying his own. There were some rounds where he didn't do anything but dance around and still did enough to win the round.

No. 6: Chael Sonnen

Chael Sonnen's opponents have more than one fight when they sign to take on this trash talking and NCAA Division I wrestler.

If they can keep their composure outside the cage while listening to him and going face to face, they have to make sure they are even more composed inside the cage when they finally fight.

It's not an easy thing to do as Sonnen is one of the more aggressive wrestlers in the sport and gets his opponents down when he gets his hands on them. He also has an aggressive striking attack that can throw his opponents off when they aren't expecting it.

No. 5: Georges St. Pierre

If a fighter has one weakness that stands out, you can bet UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will do everything he can to exploit it.

If it means taking his opponent down or standing out outstriking them, St. Pierre will do it for however long it takes. Five of his last six fights have gone the five-round distance, and it's been a dominant run for the pound-for-pound star. His lone stoppage win out of those fights was a corner stoppage in his rematch with BJ Penn.

He recently lost his 30-round win streak after losing a round to Jake Shields at UFC 129. Still, he did more than enough to defeat the grappling ace, taking his win streak to nine.

No. 4: Dominick Cruz

UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz has one of the best styles for the division, and he has used it to defeat every one of his opponents.

He avenged his only defeat at UFC 132 against Urijah Faber when he out-pointed the former WEC Featherweight Champion for five rounds and won a unanimous decision.

Faber appeared frustrated throughout the bout and had a hard time letting his hands go while trying to block the nonstop attack of Cruz.

Cruz is a point-fighter but is exciting to watch and is similar to fighters like Frankie Edgar.

No. 3: Clay Guida

Clay Guida will stick onto his opponents like glue, and it's his determination and endless cardio that helps him frustrate his opponents with his aggression for however long it takes to win.

He most recently defeated WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis by taking him down at will for three rounds to win a decision. He used a similar gameplan when he fought Nate Diaz and Mac Danzig.

He also has a unique stand-up style that visibly frustrated Takanori Gomi before he submitted the Japanese standout in their fight at UFC 125.

No. 2: Jon Fitch

Not only is Jon Fitch incredibly hard to finish, it's incredibly hard for opponents to keep him from taking them down. Like Guida, Fitch likes to grind down his opponents and take their will away.

He is one of those fighters that gets stronger as the fight goes on, and he proved this in his fight with BJ Penn. He only could get a draw with the future Hall of Fame fighter, but he came away as the winner in most fans' eyes after dominating Penn in the third round and outlanding him 134-to-0.

Fitch's last nine bouts have all gone to a decision. He has won seven of them.

No. 1: Lyoto Machida

A fighter might say all it takes is a single punch, but they have to land it first. If they are good enough to land on Lyoto Machida, they better make it count because it might be the only one they land all night.

Former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Machida is known for his karate-oriented style of fighting, and the results are some of the most talked about and discussed when it comes to figuring out who has the most frustrating style to go against.

He makes good fighters look bad and has become more aggressive over the past two years to make his style even more dangerous.

Until he won a very close decision against "Shogun Rua," he was the least hit fighter in all of MMA.