Dominick Cruz is back on top of the UFC’s bantamweight field, and entering 2016 is staring down the fight he was supposed to have back in 2012 in the rubber match with Urijah Faber. It’s not exactly the best fight for him to take, but he feels it’s the right fight to make at this stage to get one last statement in against his longtime foe.
“I like that Faber matchup because we were supposed to fight but it got put off because of my knee injury, so I feel like that could happen,” Cruz said in an interview with MMAjunkie.com. “It’s been 10 years of building with this guy, and I just kind of want to shut him down and keep him out of the division after this. He really isn’t the most relevant guy in the world, but he still does a pretty good fight. He brings some things to the table. He’s still got a championship mindset.
“I think this is just another gift for Faber. He’s been gifted his whole career with title shots, but oh well. Screw it. I’m all he’s got left, so I might as well give him one more.”
Penick’s Analysis: Cruz has a point here, in that Faber getting the shot would be a bit of a gift at this point, but it’s easy enough for the UFC to sell given their history. And honestly, if the UFC isn’t going to do the T.J. Dillashaw rematch right away, Faber’s the only other option that does make sense because of that history. Faber’s not got a ton left in the tank, but one last hurrah may be the way to go out.
[Photo (c) Bob DeChiara via USA Today Sports]
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