The Fight Horizon Bantamweight Championship Edition – Renan Barao vs. Dominick Cruz

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The Fight Horizon

In today’s Mixed Martial Arts, new fights are announced so often it’s difficult to keep track of all of them, let alone understand how they came about and what the implications are. So twice a week here at The Fight Horizon on Inside Fights, writer Daniel Sohn takes a quick, but in-depth look at newly announced match-ups to mark on your calendar.

The Matchup:

Renan Barao (31-1 overall, 6-0 in the UFC)

Strengths: Everything; elite striking, jiu-jitsu, overall defense

Weaknesses: Occasionally has a fight go to decision

Dominick Cruz (19-1 overall, 2-1 in the UFC)

Strengths: Movement, footwork, brilliant boxing, takedown defense

Weaknesses: Lack of heavy punching power

The Date: February 1, 2014 at UFC 169

Weight Class: Bantamweight

What led to it: Cruz suffered multiple injuries that prevented him from fighting for a long enough period of time that an interim champion had to be named. Renan Barao won that title and has been defending it successfully while Cruz has been out. Apparently, “The Dominator” is ready to return to action and now it’s time to unify the belts.

Why it matters:  Finally. Dominick Cruz is scheduled to return. He was out for a period of time longer than any UFC champion in recent memory. The year and a half that GSP was gone seems like a 30 minute lunch break compared to how long Dominick Cruz has been out of action. There was plenty of talk about stripping Cruz of his title and it very likely would have happened if his layoff continued. The UFC didn’t have a precedent for if and when a champion should be stripped of his/her title, but they may make one now after what happened in the Bantamweight division.

To put it in perspective, consider that since the WEC merged into the UFC, Cruz has only fought two times in the UFC, while some other elite guys who crossed over at the same time have around seven or eight. Twice. He’s only fought twice and his last fight was over two years ago. By the time he meets Barao, if he can make it through training without any further problems, it will have been nearly two and a half years since he’s been inside of the cage.

Barao is one of those guys who has fought numerous times since transitioning from the WEC and he has been on a tear. And not just since he entered the UFC, but since he started fighting period. He has defeated some of the best fighters in the division, he earned the interim title and has defended it successfully in impressive fashion.

So it begs the question of whether Cruz is going to be ready to return against an opponent the caliber of Barao. This is not GSP returning to fight Condit, GSP who has his ever-dependable takedowns and smothering top control to depend on. GSP could have come back at less than 100% and he still would have had a fair chance at winning because of that. Cruz has no such skill, he doesn’t have a dominant technique that works on every single opponent he faces. Sure, he has that signature movement, speed and boxing, but Barao is one of the most tactical, capable and instinctive strikers in all of MMA, and he moves and defends as well as anyone. Whether Cruz is 100% or not, Barao may very well be his equal in the stand-up.

And should Barao win in any fashion, it’s only natural that questions will arise as to whether Cruz was suffering from ring rust and if we really saw the best Dominick Cruz fight that night. It’s highly likely that we’ll see a rematch no matter who wins and loses.

Speaking of losses, another factor to consider is that these two guys just don’t lose. They both only have one loss on their records and neither guy has tasted defeat in a long, long time. Cruz lost his only fight over six years ago, and it’s been more than 8 years for Barao. So it’s going to be a bitter pill to swallow for one of them come February. It’s almost a case of two undefeated fighters meeting for the championship. Not quite, but almost.

Finally, this is a chance to eliminate that pesky “interim” tag attached to Barao’s championship. That’s a boon for both fighters. Cruz can defend his title and silence all of his critics and doubters in one fell swoop. Barao is easily the best fighter Cruz will have ever faced and defeating him would send a clear message: Cruz is the best bantamweight fighter in the world. Ditto for Barao, who can become the UFC Bantamweight champion, period. There won’t be any talk of him not going through Cruz to win the title.

Both of these guys are so good and have such impressive resumes, that this fight isn’t just a chance to prove who is the best bantamweight on the planet. This is a chance to go down as one of the P4P greatest. This is one we’ve been waiting for and it’s set to go down in February. Circle the date folks.

Dan is a new addition to the InsideFights team. When not teaching at the local college during his day job, he likes to ride his fixed gear bicycle around town. Given the choice, he'd rather bike than drive any day (ride on!). He also enjoys trying new craft beers and vegetarian/vegan foods, playing guitar, writing fiction and of course, catching up on all things MMA. Dan currently lives in Los Angeles with his awesome wife.