Sick of being bashed for his background, Cruz lashes out at Faber?s ?privileged? upbringing
Urijah Faber, challenging Dominick Cruz for his UFC 135-pound belt, is also challenging the champ’s mental game. The battle before the real battle is being waged through media.
“He acts one way on camera and acts like Mr. Nice Guy, and plays me off like the bad guy. He can’t expect to disrespect the things that I’ve done and want me to respect him back,” Cruz told ESPNRadio1100‘s Pauly Howard (2:15 mark). “It comes down to, don’t play the game of Mr. Nice Guy if your going to run your mouth.”
In his exclusive Yahoo! Sports’ UFC 132 blog, Faber has slammed Cruz, calling him a mental train wreck.
“[...] but the guy is an emotional mess. He goes from throwing himself pity-parties to praising himself for all that he brings to MMA,” wrote Faber.
“He likes recounting his deprived upbringing (which doesn’t sound that bad, in my opinion) and pondering how he could reach the heights he has with all that’s wrong in his life.”
“He’s talking about my upbringing. Not all of us had a lot of money growing up. Not all of us had the perfect life growing up and had our mom and dad to buy us a gym in the most beautiful part of California,” Cruz said (3:23 mark). “I’m sorry my life wasn’t as picture perfect as Urijah Faber. I had to work for everything I’ve got. I’m fighting for family as I speak.”
Cruz says he grew up in a rougher part of Tucson, Az. Frankly, can someone else really judge someone’s account of their childhood?
Cruz is right about the promotion. This is definitely “The Golden Child” vs. “The Brooding Outsider.” It may mean better business if Urijah Faber can take the strap, but if Cruz actually has his mental game together, the UFC may not get its wish. So far the bettors and Las Vegas sportsbooks are of the belief that Cruz will retain his title. He’s a minus-140 favorite.
You can watch UFC 132 right here on Yahoo! Sports
Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia Jason Grace
Jim Miller back on track with choke victory over Melvin Guillard at UFC on FX 1
Fundamentals took out flash Friday night.
Melvin Guillard looked spectacular at times, but after three minutes of wowing the crowd, he was caught in another choke and had to tap to the very steady and tough Jim Miller.
Guillard, a dynamic striker, was lighting up Miller when he made a big mistake. He left his feet to attempt his fourth flying knee of the fight. Miller was waiting and dumped him to the ground where he eventually locked on a rear-naked choke to finish things at the 2:02 mark of the first round in the main event of the UFC on FX 1 card in Nashville.
“It always something I’ve been able to do and then from there it was just about securing the position,” Miller told UFC play-by-play voice Jon Anik. “I’m pretty confident that I am the most dangerous lightweight in the world. I’m willing to make you guys believe that.”
The dominant victory puts Miller (21-3, 10-2 UFC) right back in the middle of the UFC lightweight title hunt. A second straight loss Friday and he would’ve tumbled down the rankings. Miller lost badly his last time out against Ben Henderson. He revealed this week that he was battling some medical issues entering that fight. That’s all in the past now.
Guillard’s regarded as one of the most explosive fighters in any weight division. He came out on fire.
Just 35 seconds into the fight, Guillard dropped Miller. As Miller scrambled, he got drilled by six more hard punches. Miller clutched and grabbed to avoid more damage. He ate another big knee as the fighters separated. With 2:48 left, Miller absorbed another huge Guillard punch, right down the pipe, but he never wilted. When Guillard tried a fourth flying knee, Miller was ready.
The 28-year-old from New Jersey dumped Guillard on his back and 10 seconds later scored a momentary mount. Guillard did himself in when he flipped to his back in an attempt to free himself. Miller’s jiu-jitsu is too nasty to attempt such an elementary escape. Miller jumped on Guillard’s back as he tried to stand up and instantly sunk in his hooks. Guillard’s suffered seven previous choke losses during his career. He wasn’t getting out of this one.
A relieved Miller gave Guillard (29-10-2, 10-6 UFC) much credit following the fight.
“I don’t get knocked down often and he knocked me down. He hits hard man. There are a lot of guys, I think in this weight class and the one above, that don’t want to fight that kid,” said Miller.
Henderson faces Edgar for the UFC lightweight title next month in Japan. Beyond that fight, it’s anyone guess who’ll get the next shot against the winner. Miller certainly put himself in the conversation.
Dan The Sandman Christison Logan The Pink Pounder Clark Steve The Snake Claveau Rich No Love Clementi Mark The Hammer Coleman
Hulk Hogan On WWE.com, How Old Is Paul Heyman?, More
– The official WWE website has ranked Hulk Hogan turning his back on millions of Hulkamaniacs to join Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in forming one of the most infamous groups in history, the New World Order, as No. 1 in their “List This: Legends of the Fall.”
– Former WWE talent Paul Heyman turns 46 years old today.
– Rosa Mendes, who has not appeared on WWE programming since SummerSlam, posted her first message on Twitter since August 20 by ranting about fellow SmackDown Diva A.J. The three-year veteran doesn’t feel …
Jesse Forbes Xavier Foupa Pokam Hermes Franca Rich Franklin Ian Freeman
Johnny Bedford-Mitch Gagnon bout pulled off UFC on FOX 2 lineup
UFC on FOX 2 has been forced to re-shuffle its lineup at the last second due to a paperwork issue after bantamweight Mitch Gagnon was unable to obtain his visa to enter the U.S. from Canada in time for his fight. Gagnon was set to face Johnny Bedford on the televised prelims. In place of [...]
Justin Eilers Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko
Torrie Wilson? & ?Zeus? Sign On New Reality Series
– Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson and Tiny “Zeus” Lister have signed on for the first-ever reality series offering from the Reelz cable network, “The Z Team”. The show will feature Lorenzo Lamas and Rudy Reyes as a, “group, led by Lamas, contracted by law enforcement agencies and concerned citizens all across the country to confront real life and death situations on the streets of America. The Z Team, relying on years of experience fighting bad guys on the big screen, in the ring and in real life take on …
Royce Gracie Royler Gracie Ryan Gracie Peter Graham Forrest Griffin
UFC on Fox 2 Videos Blog with Dana White (Episode 1)
UFC President Dana White is back with his first video blog for Saturday’s UFC on Fox 2 event in Chicago, which features a behind the scenes look at this past weekend’s “UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs. Miller” event and Jon Jones’ prediction on the UFC on Fox 2 main event between rival Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.
Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira shooting for summer return to the ring
It may not have been the consensus ?Submission of the Year? but if you?re a MMA fan there?s no doubt Frank Mir?s finish of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 140 is etched into your memory. For those who have suffered some sort of massive head trauma since then, Mir locked on a Kimura and broke [...]
Marcus Davis Tony DeSouza Edwin Dewees Nick Diaz Tadhg Steamfist Dixon