Tag: Dominick Cruz (Page 3 of 3)

Early UFC 132 Betting Odds: Cruz Favored over Faber

nullUFC 132 takes place this Saturday night from Las Vegas and our friends at BetOnFighting.com have released their odds for six of the bouts on the card.

In the main event, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz is a slight favorite to beat challenger Urijah Faber. Cruz has odds of -130 while Faber has a money line of +100.

Faber is the only blemish on Cruz’ record, but Cruz is a much different fighter now and Faber has somewhat underwhelmed in his short time at bantamweight.

In the co-main event, Wanderlei Silva (-185) is favored to beat Chris Leben (+155) in what should be a slugfest in the middleweight division. Both men are standup fighters that like to trade punches. You would expect someone to get KO’d in this one.

Silva has the more impressive wins list, but his chin is not nearly as strong as it once was. Leben isn’t a great technical striker, but when he hits you, it does a lot of damage.

In what could be Tito Ortiz’ final bout with the UFC, he is a heavy underdog (+365) in his contest with wrestling standout Ryan Bader (-465).

Bader has just one loss in his career, to current champion Jon Jones. Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since beating Ken Shamrock in October of 2006. He hasn’t beaten anyone currently relevant since he beat Forrest Griffin in a close decision in April of 2006.

Check out all the current odds for UFC 132 after the jump.

Continue reading »

MMA Top 10 Pound-For-Pound Rankings

nullWell, I have released all of my rankings for each weight class, so now I work my way back to my pound-for-pound list.

There hasn’t been an overwhelming amount of action in the UFC in the two months since I first released this list, but here is a look at the latest rankings.

1. Anderson Silva (28-4): Silva hasn’t competed since last February against Vitor Belfort, but he does have a fight that is getting closer and closer. Silva will face Yushin Okami at UFC 134 in August, looking to avenge a DQ loss to Okami back in 2006. Silva still has been the most impressive champion the UFC has ever had, despite a few lackluster performances. His knockout wins are legendary and his KO of Belfort was one of the greatest front kicks ever seen in MMA.

2. Georges St. Pierre (22-2): St. Pierre successfully defended his UFC Welterweight Championship against Jake Shields back at UFC 129 on April 30. It was another decision win for GSP, making it four straight, but a win nonetheless. St. Pierre suffered an eye injury during the bout, which hampered him in the final few rounds. Still, GSP is dealing with a lot of criticism following the bout and is now likely to face Strikeforce champion, Nick Diaz, as opposed to moving up to middleweight to face Silva.

3. Jose Aldo (19-1): Aldo also defended his UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 129, beating Mark Hominick by decision. Aldo looked very beatable in the fifth and final round, as he was taken down and pounded on by a bloody Hominick in the final five minutes, but he still managed to do enough prior to that to earn a win. Aldo was originally expected to face Chad Mendes at UFC 133 in a title defense, but a medical suspension will keep Aldo from fighting until the fall of 2011.

Continue reading »

Top 10 Bantamweight Rankings

nullAfter weeks of rankings, we have finally reached the bantamweights.

The 135-pound division is strong from top to bottom and filled with exciting fighters.

Here is a look at my top 10 bantamweights in MMA.

(If you need to go back and find my pound-for-pound, heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, or featherweight rankings, click on the links)

1. Dominick Cruz (17-1) – Cruz gets my top spot as he is the UFC champion and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Cruz’ style has been very tough for his opponents to figure out as he is constantly on the move. His striking is crisp and his wrestling goes very unrecognized and is really what allowed him to beat the likes of Joseph Benavidez and Scott Jorgensen.

2. Joseph Benavidez (14-2) – Benavidez could arguably be a flyweight but he still excels at 135 pounds. His explosive wrestling and striking have allowed him to beat the best in the division and a pair of decision losses to Cruz are the only black marks on his record. Benavidez is somewhat stuck in the shadows of teammate, Urijah Faber, who will get the next title fight and perhaps leave Benavidez without a place to go in the division.

3. Brian Bowles (9-1) – There is still a lot to be discovered with the former WEC champion. His lone loss was against Cruz, where he suffered a broken hand that stopped the fight. Bowles has big power and some good chokes. He gets Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132, which should be a good test to see if he is ready to make another run at the title.

Continue reading »

Best non-finishers in MMA

AP ImageGeorges St. Pierre is quickly losing favor with MMA fans.

Saturday’s UFC 129 bout with Jake Shields brought St. Pierre brought another decision victory for the welterweight champion, which was his fourth straight decision win.

St. Pierre has not won by stoppage since Jan. 31, 2009 when B.J. Penn failed to answer the bell for the fifth round.

Fans are growing tired of St. Pierre’s decision wins and his lack of “killer instinct,” and want to see him be more aggressive and finish his opponents like he did on his first run to the UFC title.

Now with 22 career wins, St. Pierre has had 9 decision victories and 13 wins by knockout or submission.

With that in mind, here are some of the other top fighters in MMA that have a few too many decisions to their credit.

Jon Fitch (23-3-1, 13 Decision victories) – Fitch has pretty much become the measuring stick of this category. He is one of the best in the world, but he just can’t seem to finish fights. Fitch is now on a run of 9-straight fights that have went to the judges. His last finish came back in June of 2007.

Randy Couture (19-11, 8 Decision victories) – Though a Hall of Famer and a legend, finishing opponents wasn’t necessarily Couture’s forte either. Actually, some of “The Natural’s” biggest wins were decisions including his victories over Tito Ortiz and Tim Sylvia.

Continue reading »

MMA pound-for-pound top 10 rankings

nullWhat’s a blog site without rankings?

Everyone has their say. Everyone has their opinion. Well, as someone that has been watching MMA for almost a decade, I think I have a pretty good eye for a well-rounded fighter.

Here is my take on the top 10 in all of MMA. This is a list I will update regularly and I am sure there is plenty of room for debate in my choices.

1. Anderson Silva (28-4): The pound-for-pound king to me is the UFC middleweight champion. The guy hasn’t lost since 2006, and that was by DQ. His last loss by submission or KO was a 2004 loss via flying heel hook. Silva is a work of art and a pleasure to watch in action. He truly is an artist with his striking and he rarely throws a punch or kick that goes to waste. Silva has been unbeatable in the UFC, but the blueprint to beat him seems to be pretty clear. His takedown defense is somewhat lacking and you have to bring the fight to him right away. Many opponents make the mistake of letting Silva go through his feel out process in the first round and once he does, it is lights out. Silva likely has a super fight with Georges St. Pierre or a title defense against Yushin Okami next. Both fighters possess the skills to beat him.

2. Georges St. Pierre (21-2): GSP is No. 2 on this list simply due to his lack of finishing fights. It would be hard to argue that any fighter has dominated his opponents on average more than St. Pierre, but he still hasn’t been able to win in the fashion that Silva has. St. Pierre has shown very well-rounded skills as he can out-strike, out-wrestle, and out-submit his opponents. His defense is very good as well as he rarely takes damage and is one of the best at staying off his back. For someone to beat the UFC welterweight champion, they will have to either land a clean punch or put him on his back. Both of those tasks will be difficult.

Continue reading »

Newer posts »

© 2026 MMA Blitz

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑