UFC
Urijah Faber feels he's got Dominick Cruz's striking figured out into UFC 132 main event
Jun 30, 2011 - 9:55:29 AM Urijah Faber feels he's got Dominick Cruz's striking figured out into UFC 132 main event

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

There may not be another opponent more knowledgeable about UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz than his UFC 132 challenger Urijah Faber.

Faber defeated Cruz four years ago in the WEC, and has been in the corner for teammate Joseph Benavidez's bouts against Cruz. On top of that, Faber does extensive breakdowns of his opponents in preparation, and Faber enters Saturday's pay-per-view main event in Las Vegas with the belief that he's got Cruz's style mapped out.

"What he does is he throws some straight punches but his body is not right behind it. It's not like he's standing and throwing a straight punch," Faber observed in an interview with Luke Thomas at SBNation.com. "One of his best punches is a straight right that he runs off to the side. It's a straight punch if you look at the actual punch but his body is way out of the way. So although it looks like it's a lot of crazy stuff that he's doing out there, there's quite a few things that are regimented."

"He moves the same direction quite a bit. He throws the same combos after jabs. He ends with low kicks. He throws a lot of right hand-right kick combos and does the same motion that he switches to a body shot, a head shot, a low kick. There's a real method to his madness and I've seen a ton of his tapes, I've been in the corner when he's fought, I've fought him, so I'm pretty savvy to what he's doing."

In seeing Cruz's two fights with Benavidez up close, including the title fight the two had that ended in a split decision in Cruz's favor, Faber believes he knows what he needs to do in the fight and what he needs to try to avoid from Cruz.

"I would say first and foremost that in the second fight Joseph got the better of the standup," Faber said when asked what he learned from Benavidez's performances. "He lost because he was six takedowns to none and when the takedowns happen, it wasn't anything dominating happening from the takedown from Dominick but Joseph didn't do anything in retaliation. He didn't reverse position. He didn't come close to any submission attempts. I would say the thing that lost him the fight was being taken down and losing points by that front."

"Other than that, Joseph did a pretty good job but Dominick walking around outside the ring, I've been around both of them, is about 10 pounds roughly larger than Joseph and I am also. I think there's a size different there and Joseph is really strong and explosive. I think that if he really wanted to, he could make 125 pounds which is completely out of the question for me, it is completely out of the question for Dominick Cruz. I think I have to connect with punches and not get hit by all of his stuff and not get outpointed on the grappling."

This fight is extremely important for Faber. At 32-years-old, Faber has had a lot of success in the sport already, but the last three times he's been in a title fight he's come out on the losing end. This is a chance for him to capture the UFC belt for the first time; he feels he's coming into his own and that this fight marks the start of a new era for him.

"I think [this is a legacy defining fight for me]," Faber admitted. "I don't plan on going anywhere win, lose, or draw but I plan on winning and I plan on adding that to my list of accomplishments and going on a run and being a defending champion. Then having super fights after that.

"Right now my body feels incredible, my technique keeps getting better and better, I'm evolving, and at this new weight I feel great so I'm just excited for the future man. This is the first step in a new direction."

Link to Full Interview

Penick's Analysis: Faber's extremely smart and is an excellent game planner, and his breakdown of Cruz's striking here is a fantastic read. The full interview is wholly worth checking out, but despite the fact that Cruz has greatly improved his game since the first time the two met, Faber knows what he's up against. Being in the corner of Benavidez against Cruz, especially in their second fight, is going to be very beneficial for Faber. Cruz could still prove to be simply too far improved for Faber to handle, but I think we're going to see a very good fight out of the challenger on Saturday night. We're in for a great main event in Las Vegas either way.

[Urijah Faber art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]