Cruz out, Faber in! ...and now Dominic Cruz is out! Thats 3 UFC Champs in as many months. Cruz was to fight Interim Champ Barao for the Undisputed/Unification Bantamweight title in February, but had to vacate the belt due to a groin tear during training. Faber is his replacement. As those who closely follow know, that there has been a long standing argument of whether Cruz should've been kept Champ since he's been out of the game for nearly 2 years with a recurring knee injury, whilst Barao (Interim/Stand in) Champion has been winning and defending his belt. I think depsite who wins in February, Cruz will be getting an immediate title shot on his return, either a rematch with Faber or a fight with Barao which people will call "The unification fight" regardless. Sources: http://mmajunkie.com/2014/01/domini...rijah-faber-now-meets-renan-barao-at-ufc-169/ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...vacates-title-urijah-faber-to-challenge-barao
Yep, after two years of waiting for his return, he now pulled a groin muscle. I wonder how much choice he had in vacating his title. I am guessing it was more a matter of Dana White giving him the option of vacating it vs having it stripped. But I could be wrong. Now, Barao is not interim, but actual champion. I wonder how much that gets backdated? Is he champ as of the date Cruz vacated or since his first championship fight? Faber steps in for Cruz on three weeks notice for the championship fight. Faber has looked awesome his last few fights, but he had nothing for Barao when they in thier last match. Will he learn Wiedman's defense against kicks to do better this time? http://mmajunkie.com/2014/01/domini...rijah-faber-now-meets-renan-barao-at-ufc-169/
There was a decent argument for him vacating it after his first surgery failed and we knew he'd be out for over a year. Sucks though, I was looking forward to him coming back. So long as we still get to hear his fight predicitons I'll be happyish. Barao will most likley win. That guy really should be in the p4p discussions more. Faber could surprise us though. If anyone in that division is likely to beat Barao its probably him.
Yep, not a Barao fan, but he should have been declared full on champ a long time ago. There needs to be a time limit on keeping a title without fighting. A year and a half at most? It isn't fair to jam up a division for years. A fighter's fighting life is short. Stopping everyone from a chance to be champion for a couple of years isn't fair to everyon else in the division. Fighter who has to vacate title should be guaranteed immediate title shot upon his or her return. This seems fair to me.
Already got this going on this thread... http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119639 (now merged)
Sorry Mushroom, I looked to see if someone started a thread already. Obviously I didn't do a very good job. I blame the pain medicine. Had a root canal today.
