With the all-time series split and a general distain for one another, Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber will meet for a third time at UFC 199. Cruz will defend his UFC Bantamweight belt for the first time since regaining it following a year and a half layoff due to injuries.
The first time Cruz and Faber met came back in WEC in 2007. ‘The California Kid’ gave ‘The Dominator’ the lone loss of his entire MMA career in that bout with Faber winning via guillotine in the first round. The second meeting came at UFC 132 when Cruz defended the bantamweight belt in a five-round battle.
There were questions surrounding Cruz leading into his last fight against T.J. Dillashaw, but the San Diego-native put any concern of rust to bed. The two battled in an all-out war that resulted in Cruz regaining the belt that he never truly lost via split decision.
Faber has perpetually been on the outside looking in during his tenure in the UFC. He has hovered near the top of the division throughout his time with the company, but Faber has always lost the big fight.
Cruz has opened as a massive -600 favorite for his title defense against Faber at UFC 199. If that line remained unchanged until the bout, it would be the second biggest fave Cruz has been in his entire career, only behind a -667 close when he faced Taketa Mizugaki.
Faber came back at +400 on the Sportsbook line, which would easily be the biggest underdog he has ever been in his career.
- Dominick Cruz -600
- Urijah Faber +400
