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UFC 139: Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles Early Breakdown

UFC 139 takes place at the famed HP Pavilion in San Jose November 19. The event is headlined by a battle of Pride legends, as former three-time world champion Dan Henderson takes on recently dethroned UFC title-holder in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.It’s…

UFC 139 takes place at the famed HP Pavilion in San Jose November 19.

The event is headlined by a battle of Pride legends, as former three-time world champion Dan Henderson takes on recently dethroned UFC title-holder in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

It’s a big leap for Zuffa since acquiring Strikeforce earlier this year. The event will mark the first in the UFC’s history hosting an event in the San Jose area.

It is a proven market for mixed martial arts fans, with roots tied around the American Kickboxing Academy.

The training facility has seen stars such as Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez and former champ Cung Le—who will also be making an appearance as the co-headliner, opposite the famed Wanderlei Silva.

Another big fight sitting pretty on the main card, as a top contender’s match, will pit former champions Brian Bowles and Urijah Faber—a fan favorite who resides only a couple hours away in Sacramento.

It’s a pivotal bout for the bantamweight class, but who will come out on top?

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UFC 139 Fight Card: Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles, Early Head to Toe Breakdown

At UFC 139, the most likely contender for Dominick Cruz’ 135 pound title will emerge, as former WEC featherweight champion, Urijah Faber, faces off against former WEC bantamweight champion, Brian Bowles.Each of these men has already lost to Cruz in the…

Each of these men has already lost to Cruz in their careers.

At WEC 47, Dominick Cruz won the title when Bowles broke his hand and was unable to continue after the second round.

At UFC 132, Cruz made the first defense of his UFC bantamweight title when he defeated Faber by unanimous decision.

Now that these two are set to match up, lets take a look at an early head to toe breakdown.

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MMA Top 10 Bantamweights: Dominick Dominates the Class

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Rankings, BantamweightsOne of the things that demonstrates Dominick Cruz’s dominance over the bantamweight division in mixed martial arts is also one of the problems that the UFC is going to have promoting him going forward: He…

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Rankings, Bantamweights

One of the things that demonstrates Dominick Cruz‘s dominance over the bantamweight division in mixed martial arts is also one of the problems that the UFC is going to have promoting him going forward: He has already handily beaten most of the best 135-pound fighters in the world, and there aren’t a lot of big fights for him out there.

Cruz’s latest conquest was Demetrious Johnson, and that fight went a lot like most of Cruz’s other fights: It wasn’t a vicious, violent beatdown, but it was a one-sided display of technical dominance, a fight in which we knew within the first minute or two that we were going to see Cruz win a unanimous decision.

As much as MMA fans recognize Cruz’s skill, it’s going to be hard for the UFC to get the general public excited about his fights because the public likes guys who destroy their opponents better than guys who win through their technical mastery. Still, there’s no doubting that Cruz is by far the best in the bantamweight division: He’s already beaten most of the other Top 10 bantamweights, as you’ll see below.

Top 10 Bantamweights in MMA
(Number in parentheses is the fighter’s rank in the last bantamweight list.)

1. Dominick Cruz (1): One of the really impressive aspects of Cruz’s current run is the quality of the competition he’s facing. As we’ll discuss below, there are a lot of really good bantamweights in the UFC right now — Johnson, Joseph Benavidez, Brian Bowles, Urijah Faber, Scott Jorgensen — and Cruz has beaten them all handily.

2. Joseph Benavidez (2): Benavidez is 15-0 when he’s not fighting Cruz, and 0-2 when he is fighting Cruz. If the UFC ever adds a flyweight class, Benavidez could easily make the cut to 125 pounds and would likely be the division’s first champion. Instead he languishes as the second-best fighter in a division where he’s already lost twice to the best.

3. Brian Bowles (3): After losing the bantamweight belt to Cruz in March of 2010, Bowles missed a year because of injuries. Now he’s 2-0 in 2011, and if he makes it 3-0 by beating Faber at UFC 139, he’ll probably get another shot at Cruz.

4. Urijah Faber (4): If Faber gets by Bowles at UFC 139, the UFC will probably give him his rubber match with Cruz. But that says more about Faber being the UFC’s most marketable bantamweight than it says about Faber’s chances of taking the bantamweight belt from Cruz: The way Cruz beat Faber at UFC 132 leaves little doubt that Cruz would be a heavy favorite if they fight again.

5. Bibiano Fernandes (NR): The former Dream featherweight champion, Fernandes is now fighting at 135 pounds in the Dream bantamweight tournament, and he looks great there: He’s better off fighting at a lower weight. He’s the best bantamweight outside the UFC, and he could be a great future opponent for Cruz if the UFC ever signs him.

6. Demetrious Johnson (5): Mighty Mouse is undersized at 135 pounds, and he would benefit from a move down to flyweight. The UFC has been talking about creating a flyweight class for a long time (and the WEC talked about it for a long time before that), and with guys like Johnson and Benavidez around, there’s no better time than now.

7. Scott Jorgensen (6): Jorgensen was thoroughly outclassed by Cruz last year, but he bounced back with a big knockout win over Ken Stone in June. He draws Jeff Curran next at UFC 137.

8. Miguel Torres (7): The former WEC bantamweight champion, Torres is the best UFC bantamweight who hasn’t yet fought Cruz. I also think Torres could be an interesting opponent for Cruz because he has height and reach that match up well with Cruz, and because he’s good at fighting off his back, and Cruz showed against Johnson that he can at times be sloppy on top. Torres is coming off a loss to Johnson, and he probably needs to go on a two-fight winning streak before the UFC would give him a crack at Cruz. He can start that streak at UFC 139, when he fights Nick Pace.

9. Brad Pickett (8): After putting together some very impressive performances in the WEC, the British Pickett will finally make his UFC debut on his home turf at UFC 138 in Birmingham, England, where he’ll face …

10. Renan Barão (9): Barao is on an incredible run, having won 26 straight fights (with one no contest) since dropping his professional MMA debut in 2005. However, all but the last three of those fights have been against little-known opponents on small Brazilian shows. Going to England to face Pickett represents a big step up in quality of competition for Barao, and the fight represents a very good match-up to determine which one of them really deserves to be considered a Top 10 bantamweight.

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UFC: Top 5 Bantamweight Fights To Look Forward To After Cruz-Johnson

After the most recent UFC bantamweight fight between champion Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, many fans were left wondering just who would be next for “The Dominator.”These five matchups will all take place before the end of the year and may prod…

After the most recent UFC bantamweight fight between champion Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, many fans were left wondering just who would be next for “The Dominator.”

These five matchups will all take place before the end of the year and may produce the next challenger for Cruz, who has already defeated all of the top contenders in the division.

UFC president Dana White announced that the winner of the upcoming Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles matchup may be next, but who is after that?

These fights will determine how the rankings play out and who will get their shot at the champion.

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Its Official: Hendo vs. Shogun at UFC 139

It looks like former UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will be getting his wish. Multiple reports confirm that current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson and “Shogun” have verbally agreed to face one another, likely as the main event of UFC 139.

The originally penned headliner for this event, a heavyweight title match between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, was moved to the UFC’s debut on Fox, which takes place Nov 12th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. I think it’s safe to say that this will be a fair replacement; Rua’s last 5 wins have come by knockout, whereas “Hendo’s” last 4 wins have ended in similarly decisive fashion, the most recent being a first round knock out of former Pride heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Henderson’s last octagon appearance was highlighted by perhaps his most brutal finish to date over fellow TUF 9 coach Michael Bisping at UFC 100. Mauricio Rua on the other hand, is coming off a quick dispatching of Forrest Griffin in their rematch at UFC 134. A fight that has nothing but title implications written all over it, don’t expect this one to go to the judges, especially considering “Shogun’s” somewhat rocky history with them.

Speaking of title implications, UFC 139 will also feature former UFC light heavyweight champ and middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, taking on former Strikeforce middleweight kingpin Cung Le, as well as a bantamweight bout between former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber and former WEC bantamweight champ Brian Bowles. That’s a lotta (former) gold for one event, son. UFC 139 goes down November 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

-Danga

UFC: Why Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles Is a Main Event with One Change Made

Ever since the clash between heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and No. 1 contender Junior Dos Santos was moved to take place on the first ever event the UFC will have on the Fox network, many people have been speculating what will replace the fight on November 19th and many fans attending the event are complaining about the lack of a pay-per-view-worthy main event now with the title fight being moved.

Currently, the high profile fights on the card include Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story, Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz and Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles. Those fights mixed in with the other fights currently on the card would make for a great “Fight Night” card, but it’s hard to hope for north of 500,000 PPV buys with that, let alone 250.

Right now, the UFC is focused on the promotion’s debut on Fox, Brock Lesnar‘s return, Alistair Overeem’s UFC debut and returning to Japan next February. Because of this, several cards, like this one, are suffering.

That is why one change to this card will make it at least a little more pay-per-view-worthy:

Make the Urijah Faber-Brian Bowles match for the interim bantamweight championship the main event.

It might seem like an odd move, seeing as how there is a bantamweight championship match happening not two months earlier between champion Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, but the move does make a decent amount of sense:

1. The Bowles-Faber fight is already a No. 1 contender’s fight, so this being added to the mix would just be the icing on the cake.

2. The winners can be billed as fighting for the “undisputed bantamweight championship” sometime in 2012, possibly the Super Bowl weekend card.

3. Both of these guys have won championships before, so it wouldn’t be new territory for them.

It would be a long shot for the UFC to make the change, but if it were to be done, it would make UFC 139 a little more marketable

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