UFC 132: Urijah Faber Talks Judging

agreed. plus, it must be quite tough to go out and put on an incredible performance, then lose.

Well those weren’t my words, but I thought Faber might at least really hurt Cruz a couple times on their feet, but apart from a couple hard shots, he never managed to have him in trouble. So that side of his ability to win was neutralized by Dom’s footwork and hand speed. Secondly, I really thought Faber would be able to get Cruz on his back at some point in a scramble and do some damage there, and instead, Cruz was the one getting the brief takedowns, and so Faber mounted no offense there. Dominick is always going to land the most strikes, but he’s not threatening to finish anyone, the question is can his opponent’s bursts of offense outweigh the steady diet of punches they eat throughout a fight. Dom neutralized Faber’s power attacks, both the grappling advantage I’d mistakenly attributed to him, and the punching power, which really only rang Cruz’ bell a couple of times. So yeah, the occasional good shot landed, but Faber couldn’t follow it up or build on any offense at all. So yeah, neutralized. And trust me, I really wanted Faber to win.

haha yeah I meant like if each knockdown just had a little extra “kick” to them. Like a knockdown followed by 2-3 solid shots in one round (that would possibly get him that round) and then another knockdown followed by a flurry along with a third knockdown all in one round. Something like a round with a knockdown, a flurry with shots landing flush followed by a second knockdown all in one round would either get him a definitive 10-9 or possibly even a 10-8. If he had done something like that then I’d be completely fine with Faber getting a 48-47 or maybe even a 49-46, but *eh should’ve, would’ve, could’ve don’t win fights. Cruz just always instantly popped back up and at least 1 of those knockdowns looked to be due more to Cruz being off balance than anything else.

fightmetric isn’t infallible

Seriously. It gave Faber round 5.

it was a tough fight to score.

cruz landed plenty of solid punches but he wasn’t able to hurt faber. that’s a testament to cruz’s lack of power and faber’s chin, not evidence of cruz deliberately “playing to the judges.”

if dominick has "no power" then urijah faber should have taken more chances trying to knock him out. instead, he fought a cautious fight too, looking for that big punch which never game. ergo, he lost.

Perfectly put- also, a look at Urijah’s medical suspension will show just how little damage Cruzes’ strikes cause.

Does not mean throwing weak shots.
I hate sloppy brawls. I love finishes.
 Anderson,Rickson Grace, Bas Rutten Jones, MegaReem, Shogun, Machida, Maia, Roger, rampage, Fedor. These men are MARtial artist. Priests of Mars The God of War. This is suppose to be a contest of violence. Its turning into a silly game of tag.

I disagree. I don’t think that it’s fair to lump Cruz and Edgar in with GSP and Fitch. Cruz and Edgar have very real physical limitations- it’s very difficult to stop a fight with a lack of power or a top-level submission game. Should fighters who lack the attributes amenable to creating finishes stop fighting, or do so in a way that puts them in a position to lose? GSP certainly has the attributes to finish fights, but he’s also mastered a style in which he can minimize his risk and continue as one of the most dominant champs in the sport’s history. Seeing GSP totally outclass Kos or Shields (pre-eye poke) and not open up to go for the finish is different than Edgar and Cruz doing what they have to do to win.

I also don’t think that decisions are more prevalent today then they were at other times of the sport’s history. I’d love to see the numbers (% of decisions by era.year), but decisions and boring decisions have always been a aprt of the sport, and always will be, especially at the upper levels where guys are so good and so evenly matched. The only difgference is that now there’s a lot more fans and ways for fans to express their displeasure. I think that this being the “Point Fighting Era” is a matter of perception.

so that he knew what I was asking for. Obviously Cruz has no power, but he is clearly faster and quicker than all the other BW’s he’s fought- Faber was only able to catch him when he anticipated correctly- when he was trying to react, he wasn’t even close to touching DC. I agree with you re: DJ, in that I think that Mighty Mouse will present a very real threat due to his agility. I really hope that’s the next title fight.

i guess FPT’s point is – this isn’t boxing, so to say “a knockdown is a knockdown” isn’t quite accurate.

my understanding they’ve made the decision in boxing to treat them all the same. in mma, they haven’t. both sets of rules can lead to unfairness.

But he does have serious limitations that he still overcomes.

Not something I’d say about Cruz though. It’s not a physical limitation for Cruz, it’s a stylistic one. Hard to get power when you’re on one foot.

and it was exciting.

The word effective is subject. To some, a KD is a highly effective strike. To others, apparently not.

Now Pettis/Guida was an abomination. I understand the rules and the concept of sport, but it that was pure stalling on Clay’s part.

The concept of ‘sport fighting’ isn’t very clear at all. How much of it is competition and how much is entertainment?

The F in UFC is there for a reason.

MMA was still a sport when the only way to win was by stoppage.