3. Is Faber vs. Benavidez Inevitable?
We know Urijah Faber earned another shot at the bantamweight title with his second round submission victory over Brian Bowles.
But taking a look at the top tier in that division, it makes you wonder how long Faber and friend/training partner Joseph Benavidez can avoid a (very awkward) matchup.
Should Faber beat Cruz and win the title, how long will Benavidez sit and beat up on other guys at 135 until he finally decides he wants a crack at holding the title?
And what if Faber loses to Cruz? They’ll each have two losses to the champ and due to marketability reasons, both will be denied a third shot at Cruz for at least a couple of years. Do they go on fighting lesser competition (and perhaps crushing other contenders) while being the consensus #2 and #3 fighters within the division?
How long can that last before public outcry and plain old lack of real competition is too much to keep the two from squaring off?
I suppose there’s always a return to featherweight for Faber, or a move to flyweight for Benavidez should that division ever materialize. But until then, I don’t envy their positions, nor that of matchmakers Sean Shelby and Joe Silva.
4. Wanderlei is Still Fun to Watch
I’ll admit: I thought Saturday night would be the last time we’d see Wanderlei Silva inside the Octagon.
With Cung Le’s unorthodox striking and Wand’s propensity for getting KO’d lately, I thought we’d see a highlight reel knockout that would live forever within the “Baba O’Reilly” montage video that live attendees are treated to at UFC pay per view events.
That didn’t happen, however, and the highlight reel moment came in the form of a single image of Le’s nose pointing in five different directions, shattered by the fist/forearm/knee of The Axe Murderer.
After reflecting on that bout, I realized that it wasn’t the legend of Wanderlei that I was excited to see, but the present day fighter himself. Silva is still a really fun and entertaining guy to watch in the cage.
This is not a Cro Cop or Chuck Liddell situation where their skills have declined to a point that they’re not all that great in the cage and they’re also not that much fun to watch. Liddell’s final three fights were all lopsided KO losses that came within the first seven minutes of the bout. Cro Cop’s last three went a little longer, but the results and sentiments were the same.
The inner fan in me wanted to see my childhood favorites fight. But it was the memory of what they were – not what they brought to the cage – that fueled my desire.
Wanderlei on the other hand, is still putting on wildly entertaining fights inside the cage and, as evidenced by Saturday night’s performance, might still have a little left in the tank. Time will tell how much is in that proverbial tank, but for now, it’s good to realize that still I’m hyped to watch the Wanderlei of today fight instead of dreaming of days gone by.
(next page: Was main event a draw?)