UFC 132 PREDICTIONS AND DISCUSSION

UFC 132 is coming to you Saturday night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and once again you can catch all of the fights live.

The action begins at 6:15 eastern time in the U.S. with 4 fights airing on Facebook.com/UFC. Then it switches over to Spike TV at 8:00 eastern, and finally 9:00 eastern for the pay per view.

Your prediction results and leaderboard ranking will automatically show up in any posts made on this thread. If you want to embed your full listing of picks you can do that also.   The top of the leaderboard will be available in the right column on this thread.

Enjoy the fights and good luck in your predictions! REMINDER: No requesting of or posting links to illegal streams of this broadcast.

* Edited at 07.01.2011, 7:14 PM ET *

5th rd cruz, 1-4...idk....if i had to guess, cruz 48-47

Damn it I think Cruz stole it 48-47.

@kallous i tend to agree, i'm not saying he wouldn't deserve the win but i can see more reasons for it swinging in his direction

I think Cruz deserves it and I think the judges will see it that way, with his style of fighting... connecting on a higher percentage and Faber swinging and missing quite a lot.

cruz deserved it.

Not the best the scoring in the world, but it was the right decision.

it was over after i heard 50-45...cruz helps make my predictions horrible!

YEAH!!!! CRUZ WINSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

@DominickCruz ... congrats on the blue belt! lol

50-45 is ********!

Ok i'm back home

1. Got another one of my half-decent bonuses with the guilard fight

2.Very surprised condit finished kim the way he did

3. Had no doubt in my mind that Ortiz was going to win

4. Was hoping to see a 3-round war between Silva/Leben but too bad

5. Got a desicion bonus with the cruz fight.

I might not have done the best on my picks but Cruz just helped make this my card of the year!!!

Best thing of all is R1za's new avatar.

i think my new avatar should be the new pic for members who haven't added an avatar ... it would make them add one pretty quick lol

...should i be worried that i'm starting to get used to it?

* Edited at 07.02.2011, 11:30 PM ET *

5 underdogs won tonight. condit was slight underdog. ortiz was heavy underdog. oddsbot must be upset. :-}

I think they'll make an immediate rematch. Fight was good, fight was even, it'd be a rubber match, more BW contenders are needed, and these are still the two biggest names in the division.

The main event of UFC 132 featured a bantamweight title fight with Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz defending his 135 pound strap against the only man to ever have defeated him, "The California Kid" Urijah Faber. When the pair first met in 2007 in the WEC, Cruz was only 21 years old and lost via submission in the first round to Faber. Since then Cruz evolved into one of the pound for pound best fighters in all of MMA and the bantamweight champion of the WEC and UFC. The rematch saw the fighters come into the bout with bad blood leading up to the July 2nd event. Cruz entered the fight with a 7-1 record in the WEC and no UFC bouts yet. Faber entered the bout 10-3 in his prior WEC and UFC bouts and as former featherweight champion of the WEC, the division in which the pair's first meeting took place.

Cruz came forward and landed with his first punch. The shorter Faber reached forward with an overhand right, clinched up with the elusive Cruz, and desperately worked to sling Cruz to the ground. Cruz displayed excellent takedown defense despite having his back taken standing, and Faber landed a nice punch as they separated from the sequence. Cruz began to get into a rhythm with his unorthodox style, darting in and out and side to side, but a moment later it was Faber who landed a punch that briefly dropped Cruz to the ground. Cruz immediately jumped up and continued his attack. Faber held his own in the exchanges but ate a big uppercut. Cruz landed a body shot and the Faber swung with mean intentions with his right hand. Urijah cut off the cage and darted forward into the clinch. Cruz broke free and flicked a kick at Faber's head. Cruz flew forward and Faber countered, then took Cruz to the ground right as the horn sounded for the end of an intense and very competitive first round.

Faber landed a right hand early in the second, dropped for a double leg takedown but found nothing. Cruz with a nice two-punch combination and a nice left hook a moment later. Faber had a hard time getting in range though did connect with a right hand after a few misses. Cruz seemed to have an easier time eluding Faber's attacks in the second round and chipped away with low kicks, jabs, and uppercuts that Faber had a hard time blocking. Faber scored with a good right hand with a minute left in the round and ran after Cruz who stumbled momentarily to the ground. Cruz surprised with his first takedown attempt of the fight, planting Faber on his back though unsuccessful in holding him down for more than a few seconds.

Faber landed a low kick but ate a punch to the face for his effort. Cruz's style made it so difficult for Faber to know what was coming that it appeared he was getting out-pointed by the champion. Cruz connected on a big uppercut and a low-power head kick, with Faber having a hard time getting in close. Faber finally got his arms around Cruz with two minutes left in the round, took him to the ground but Cruz immediately reversed into top position. Faber scrambled free and landed as they stood. Cruz's effectiveness on the feet was on display over the next minute, then in a likely attempt to steal the round he shot for a takedown. Faber defended and the round ended in the clinch.

Cruz landed a big right hand early in the third, perhaps his best punch of the fight to that point. Faber rocked Cruz and showed he still had the ability to land big shots. Cruz fell down but was up a second later looking no worse for the wear, and continued his attack. Faber stuffed a takedown attempt and with such a high pace the question of which fighter had the better endurance became important. Cruz looked for a late takedown again unsuccessfully and the fight headed to the fifth round.

Cruz landed a flying knee to start the fifth, looking to land cleanly. Faber held his ground, was taken down by Cruz, popped up to his feet and worked his way out of a precarious position with Cruz on his back. Faber landed a knee and looked for a standing guillotine. Cruz escaped, the fighters hit the ground, and were back up a moment later. In a sign of both fighters tiring, Cruz pressed Faber against the cage and seemed content to pause there for a moment with his weight on his opponent. Faber desperately moved forward looking for a finish in the final minute, but Cruz was too quick as he put Faber on the mat twice in a row. Both fighters raised their arms in victory at the bell as they headed to their respective corners and waited for the official decision.

The judges scored the bout 50-45, 49-46, and 48-47 for the winner by unanimous decision, Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz. Speaking to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview, Cruz commented, "To all you fans out there, thank you so much for your support... I couldn't do it without the fans, thank you... I've got to say, Urijah, man that dude hits hard... he was ready for that knee tap that Benavidez did... Faber's hands were very good, I've got to hand it to him his hands are very good... I hit him with a jumping knee in the fourth round and he's tough... thank you, hey I got my blue belt!"

Given a chance to speak himself, Faber commented, "I knew it was going to be a tough fight, I thought I landed the harder punches and had him rocked, congratulations to Dominick... I knew he was going to come in awkward like that, I decided to come in straight forward and I didn't feel like I was in danger at any point."

@r1zla. bieber was actually at the fight i think

the main event went down exactly as i thought it would...i really don't want to see that fight again, it was an ok fight, but after all the fireworks on this card i thought the main event was pretty anticlimactic

yeah i saw they cut to him for a while lol

* Edited at 07.02.2011, 11:35 PM ET *