UFC 132: Is Dominick Cruz the Next Floyd Mayweather of Mixed Martial Arts?

Dominick Cruz Sets Sights on Victory Over Urijah Faber and MMA Stardom at UFC 132

To compare an MMA fighter like Dominick Cruz, a participant in this weekend's UFC 132 festivities in Las Vegas, to superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. may sound to some like a put-down or an insult, considering the storm of controversy surrounding Mayweather Jr.'s refusal to fight fellow boxing great Manny Pacquiao lest Pacquiao submit himself a strenuous battery of drug tests to be administered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

However, to take the comparison as such would overlook the fact that both Cruz and Mayweather are tremendous talents in their respective combat sports, guys with the kind of raw ability to give them a significant edge over any opponent on any given night, assuming each has put in the requisite time and effort in the gym to prepare.

The big difference between the two, aside from the fact that they compete in very different sports, is the notion that Mayweather is a household name in his sport while Cruz is far from it in his.

In fact, Cruz enters his match with Urijah Faber on Saturday as the incumbent bantamweight title belt holder and the odd's on favorite to retain his hold on the top spot on his weight class.

Nevertheless, it's Faber who's the big ticket name on the marquee at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the face of the weekend's events and one of UFC's most consequential rising stars.

So why the lack of respect for Cruz and his 17-1 career record?

That one loss on his record came, of course, at the hands of one Urijah Faber. It was all the way back in March of 2007 that Cruz checked in for his first fight as a member of World Extreme Cagefighting against Faber and checked out at the 1:38 mark of the first round when Faber forced Cruz into submission with a guillotine choke.

As such, Cruz will enter the Octagon on Saturday with a wealth of motivation for beating Faber into submission. Doing so would certainly boost Cruz's profile among MMA fans who still don't know who he is while avenging, for himself, that single smudge on his otherwise sparkling clean resume.

And, perhaps, such an outcome would help Cruz to assert himself as a fighting talent on the level of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. in boxing.

Which leaves one aching question: would that then make Faber the Manny Pacquiao of MMA, or might that be a bit too much praise too soon?