UFC 132 Fight Card: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber, Head To Toe Breakdown

Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will finally be making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 132 against former featherweight champion Urijah Faber.

This is a very important fight for Cruz because, not only is it his first fight in the UFC, it is a chance to avenge the only loss of his MMA career.

The two men have fought once before with the WEC's featherweight championship on the line and Faber defeated Dominick, catching him with a guillotine choke in the first round.

Cruz will be wanting to showcase how much he has improved by beating Faber at UFC 132.

Urijah Faber will be looking to show fight fans that he still has Cruz's number, while also becoming one of few MMA competitors to ever hold championships in more than one weight class.

Let's see how these two stack up...

Experience

Experience-wise, these two should be pretty evenly matched.

Both of them have captured championships within the WEC and they both defended their belts multiple times.

Neither fighter should be phased by the pressure of being the main event, as both have been in that position before (although not for the UFC).

Faber could be considered to have a slight experience advantage because Dominick is not the most dangerous fighter he's faced, but Urijah is debatably the most dangerous opponent Cruz has ever faced.

I don't believe that's particularly significant, though.

Edge: Push

Cardio

Similar to their experience levels, these two should be pretty much dead even as far as cardio goes.

Faber and Cruz both have tremendous cardio and neither of them are strangers to going all five rounds.

If this fight were to go on forever, until one fighter finally tired, I would pick Dominick to outlast Urijah.

That is not the case, however, it is a standard five round fights and both guys have proved that they can make it five rounds without gassing.

Edge: Push

Striking

Neither of these competitors are known for their striking, but I expect Dominick to have a clear cut advantage here.

Dominick is quick on his feet and is always moving in and out of his opponents range.

If this fight stays standing, expect Cruz to use his superior movement and quickness to outclass the slower Faber. Dominick might also be able to use his striking to keep Urijah off balance, in order to set up takedowns.

Faber will have the power advantage, but neither of these guys are power strikers, so Urijah won't be able to threaten with one punch knockout power.

Edge: Dominick Cruz

Chin

Urijah has been TKO'd before and Cruz has not.

That said, Faber has faced much more dangerous strikers than Cruz has.

Urijah went all five rounds with current featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Anyone who can do that has to have one hell of a chin.

I can't really give Faber the advantage, though, because Cruz has never been knocked out.

Both guys have proven they can take a hell of a punch and neither of them are devastating strikers, so this one is about even.

Edge: Push

Grappling

Ranking these guys as wrestlers is a little bit tricky.

In college, Faber competed in Division I of the NCAA. He was never champion, but in 2002 he did finish top 12. He also finished second in the University Nationals for Freestyle Wrestling.

Dominick started wrestling in the seventh grade and was very successful in wrestling throughout high school. Unfortunately, an injury stopped Cruz from wrestling in college and so he has no NCAA experience to compare to Faber's.

Cruz and Faber both have excellent wrestling, but I think Faber is the more powerful of the two and the fact that he competed throughout college, while Cruz was unable to, should help him.

It's possible that Dominick could use his superior quickness to gain a wrestling advantage (see Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard 2), but I'm leaning towards Urijah for this one.

Edge: Urijah Faber

Submissions

This one is pretty cut and dry.

Urijah has 13 wins by submission, Cruz has one.

Faber is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has submitted black belts before. Dominick is not ranked in BJJ.

Urijah has submitted Cruz before with a guillotine choke.

I will give Dominick some credit, he has definitely improved his submission defense since his first fight with Faber. Since then he has fought some solid submission guys and not been tapped.

Faber still definitely has the advantage, though.

Edge: Urijah Faber

Winner?

This is such a close fight and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm far from certain about the prediction I've come up with.

In their first fight, we saw that Cruz definitely had the striking advantage; he was lighting Faber up before he got stuck in the guillotine.

Dominick was also able to get Urijah to the ground, but that was because Urijah was committing to the guillotine choke. I don't believe Cruz would have achieved the takedown so easily, if it wasn't for Faber going for a submission.

In this fight, if Faber is able to take Cruz down, I'm confident he will win. Dominick is not used to being on his back and Urijah can be devastating with both ground and pound and submissions.

Unfortunately, the first fight ended before we saw Faber even attempt a takedown, so there's no telling if he can get it or not. Urijah has the superior wrestling, on paper, but Cruz might be able to use his footwork to avoid Faber's shots.

On the feet, Dominick can win this fight, but can he keep it on the feet?

As I see it, this fight hinges on Faber's ability to get it to the ground and, ultimately, I think he can do it.

Winner: Urijah Faber via Third-Round Submission