THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — The smallest guys in the UFC put on the biggest show Saturday night at UFC 132 inside the MGM Grand Garden.
Dominick Cruz defeated Urijah Faber by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 48-47) in a five-round bantamweight championship match that proved that a pair of 135-pound, former World Extreme Cagefighters could indeed carry a main UFC event.
"Me and Urijah set the bar for everything for 135s. We had something to show the world, that we could headline a card. We can compete with heavyweights, 170-pounders, everyone," said Cruz, who won for the first time in the UFC after parent company Zuffa merged the two promotions at the beginning of the year.
"Just because we’re little guys doesn’t mean we can’t scrap."
There was plenty of action from start to finish as the two buzzed around the octagon. Faber won a close first round, in part from a big right hand that dropped Cruz two minutes in.
Cruz stormed back taking the second and third rounds, with the fourth too close to call.
Cruz brought the crowd of 12,947 to their feet with two takedowns in the final minute of the fight. The late rally probably locked up the victory and avenged his only career loss, which came against Faber in March of 2007.
The action was so intense and back-and-forth in the bout, which earned "Fight of the Night" honours and a bonus of US$75,000, that both fighters said they needed to watch a replay.
"I can’t really remember much of that fight. It feels like I was in a tornado. I was running into stuff, dressers and what not," Cruz said in the post-fight press conference.
The fan favourite Faber said he felt he won the fight, but agreed with commentator Joe Rogan that a third fight definitely should happen.
"I’d love to, let’s do it," Faber said. "I felt it could have went either way, I thought I won the fight because I landed the more damaging punches. But I didn’t finish him or do enough to convince the judges. Congratulations to Dominick."
UFC president Dana White said he never doubted that the lighter weight WEC fighters would put on a show when they transitioned into the UFC, and would be all for a trilogy bout between Cruz and Faber.
"Third fights are always fun, especially if they’re as good as a fight as this one was — MMA at its finest tonight," White said. "An incredible fight. We knew that they would deliver."
The night offered mixed results for two legends of mixed martial arts as Tito Ortiz, facing a must-win scenario to stay in the UFC, defeated Ryan Bader in the first round via guillotine choke. Later, Wanderlei Silva was quickly knocked out by Chris Leben in the first 30 seconds of the co-main event.
Arguably the biggest applause of the night came when Silva walked into the octagon with the techno song Sandstorm blaring and fans on their feet.
True to his "Axe Murderer" moniker, the Brazilian wasted little time cracking Leben with a hard right. But "The Crippler", who admitted this week to getting sick because he ate a bunch of candy before his one-sided loss to Brian Stann in January, quickly responded with a flurry of punches.
A couple of left-right hooks dropped Silva and Leben finished the former PRIDE superstar with a series of strong left-hands. Silva was so dazed that he initially tried to pull referee Josh Rosenthal into his guard before he realized what had just happened.
"I only visualized a three-round war. I never envisioned a knockout. Wanderlei I love you, you’re my hero," said a fired-up Leben. "Thanks for honouring me with that fight."
White hinted that it might be time for Silva, who has lost six of his last eight fights, to hang up the five-ounce gloves.
"I think its one of those situations where I’d like to sit down and have a talk with him and maybe Chuck Liddell-him," White said referring to the Ice Man, who retired late last year after losing five of his last six fights.
"He has nothing left to prove. People love him all over the world. I don’t want to see that happen to him any more."
Ortiz scored the "Submission of the Night," and Carlos Condit earned the "Knockout of the Night" award for his first-round TKO of Dong Hyun Kim.
Fans inside the arena, which drew a $2.3 million gate, were none too pleased when German Dennis Siver scored a close unanimous decision victory (29-28 on all three scorecards) over Matt Wiman, a lightweight from Colorado, on the Fourth of July weekend as fans booed in unison.
Wiman also appeared upset as he stormed off through the main tunnel, instead of the normal route that runs in front of press row.
With his back against the wall in his light heavyweight bout against Bader, the 36-year-old Ortiz gave the fans chanting his name what they wanted to see — dropping Bader with a big right hand and then finishing the job with a guillotine choke less than two minutes into the first round.
"First I have to thank Dana White for pushing me to my limit," said Ortiz of the UFC president, who on Thursday said the MMA legend absolutely had to win to keep his job.
"I’d like to thank Lorenzo Fertitta for giving me this awesome opportunity and giving the fans what they want to see — me kick some ass."
Ortiz (16-8-1 MMA, 15-8-1 UFC), who was a 5 1/2-1 underdog at the MGM sports book, felt out Bader for the first minute, before landing a solid left. Bader countered with a punch, but shortly thereafter his when Ortiz dropped him with a big right.
"The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" quickly secured the guillotine and Bader — who dropped his second straight bout after starting his MMA career a perfect 12-0 — tapped out at the 1:56 mark.
Condit started off the main card in impressive fashion, landing a flying knee to a stunned Kim before finishing off the South Korean with a series of punches as Kim lay up against the cage.
Melvin Guillard swears he isn’t going to ask UFC brass for a title shot, another performance or two like Saturday night and he won’t have to — matchmaker Joe Silva will be forced to give one to the up and coming lightweight.
The New Orleans native floored Shane Roller with a left hook and big knee to earn his fifth straight victory and eighth win in his past nine fights, knocking out the former Oklahoma State wrestler just 2:12 into the first round.
"I give you fireworks every Fourth of July," Guillard told a cheering crowd. "I’m kind of emotional right now. My whole life has been a battle, but now I’m coming back to the top.
"I’ll keep knocking them out as they line ’em up. I don’t know how close I am (to a title opportunity), but I want another top contender next."
Rafael dos Anjos provided the first finish of the evening when he knocked out George Sotiropoulous with a big right hand just 59 seconds into the first round.
Former WEC bantamweight champ Brian Bowles wasn’t too pleased with how he got his victory over Takeya Mizugaki, considering it was the first time he’s had a non-finish in 11 fights when he earned a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
But Bowles, who might have actually broken his right hand in the first round, said not only would he take the win — but thinks it actually positions him as the top bantamweight contender.
"I think I’m next in line for a shot at the belt. If not me, then who?" said Bowles, whose only loss came because of a doctor’s stoppage against Cruz in March of 2010.
"That was my first decision, so I’m not too happy about that. But Mizugaki is tough as hell and I’m proud to have been able to get a win over him."
After suffering back-to-back losses to Leben and Mark Munoz, Aaron Simpson scored his second straight victory with a unanimous decision over Brad Tavares.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 finalist Andre Winner’s time in the UFC might have come to an end as the English fighter dropped his third-straight bout when Las Vegas-based Anthony Njokuani defeated him by a lopsided unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the bout 30-26.
"It took too long for me to get going tonight. I was too tense and didn’t use my range. He was a good puncher, but I spar with guys like Paul Daley so I’m use to hard shots," said Winner, who looked like he might be stopped in the first round when Njokuani delivered several hard knees and big punches up against the cage.
"Anthony was just better tonight in all aspects."
While a grinning Ortiz was stoked about his UFC-saving victory, he said all the fighters on the card gave fans an early Fourth of July present.
"Fireworks came earlier this year, on July 2," he said. "We put on a show tonight. Every single fighter came out and did their thing."
