UFC 132: Cruz beats Faber, defends title

Retaining the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight belt and earning a fight-of-the-night bonus in the process made getting his revenge over Urijah Faber that much sweeter.

Cruz kept his title by unanimous decision over Faber in the main event of UFC 132 at the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday night.

The champion said his feud with Faber is in the past after an action-packed, five-round battle.

“I’m good. I wanted this fight for four years,” he said. “I got it. I won it. I’m happy.”

The night also marked the possible resurrection of Tito Ortiz’s career and a setback for the comeback attempt of another star, Wanderlei Silva.

Cruz was able to settle the score with Faber by executing the same game plan he has stuck to since losing to the then-champion four years ago.

He stayed perpetually in motion and created striking angles while shrugging off whatever takedowns Faber attempted.

Faber landed the more powerful shots, knocking down Cruz on three occasions. The outbursts were too few and far between, however, as Cruz proved too quick and elusive, even for the speedy Faber.

Cruz won by scores of 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47.

“By the end of the fight, you really don’t know what happened. You go in there and it’s like a whirlwind. It feels like I was in a tornado. You’re getting hit by dressers or whatever. I have no idea,” Cruz said. “I was just going out to scrap, and all I knew was if I got hit, I was just going to keep punching.”

After a frenetic first round, Cruz started to take control in the second. He even caught Faber off guard by securing a takedown of his own, though Faber bounced right back up to his feet.

Though the pace slowed somewhat as the fight wore on, each round was fairly similar. Cruz moved in and out, landing shots when he could find space, while Faber looked for the knockout blow.

“I landed the heavier shots and rocked him a few times and knocked him down,” Faber said. “I think the main factor must have been the amount of punches, because that’s the only thing I can think of.”

Much less strategy was involved as middleweight Chris Leben took just 27 seconds to knock out Las Vegan Wanderlei Silva.

Leben appeared to get caught early, but as Silva came forward and swung wildly in an effort to end the fight, Leben landed a left that stopped Silva in his tracks. Leben followed it up with four left uppercuts that floored Silva and continued with left hands on the ground until the referee jumped in to stop the onslaught.

Silva, a superstar in the defunct Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, is now 2-6 in his last eight fights. He had been out of action due to a variety of injuries since a unanimous decision over Michael Bisping in February 2010. It’s possible his career could be over after the quick knockout.

“People love him because of the way he fights and the style and the kind of person he is, but yeah, that’s probably the end of the road for Wanderlei,” UFC president Dana White said.

Leben said he was just honored to fight his hero.

“Wanderlei Silva is my favorite fighter. He always has been. The man is a legend,” he said. “What he has done for the sport is absolutely amazing. I’m still blown away. He can do whatever he wants.”

Ortiz saved himself from a similar fate with a first-round submission of Ryan Bader.

The 36-year-old light heavyweight knocked Bader down with a right hand, then locked in a guillotine as Bader tried to scramble to his feet.

Welterweight Carlos Condit handed Dong Hyun Kim the first loss of his career with a knockout sequence started by a flying knee. Lightweight Dennis Siver won a decision over Matt Wiman, who in frustration ran from the cage and through the crowd when the verdict was announced. Wiman dominated the second round, bloodying Siver, but he lost the first and third rounds.

Melvin Guillard and Rafael dos Anjos each recorded first-round knockouts on the Spike TV portion of the undercard.

All four fights on the preliminary card went the distance, with Anthony Njokuani, Aaron Simpson, Brian Bowles and Jeff Hougland picking up victories.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.