Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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Happy 4^th of July everyone. When you think of Independence Day for this great country we live in, you automatically think of fireworks. In Las Vegas, Nevada tonight, those explosions are going to be a little early. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has an extravaganza in store for mixed martial arts fans everywhere. UFC 132 goes down tonight and just might be the best card of 2011.

The main event is for the 135 pound bantamweight title and it’s between two guys who just don’t like each other. Champion Dominick Cruz puts his belt on the line against fan favorite Urijah Faber. These guys have fought before, four years ago, and then it was for Faber’s 145 pound title. A lot has changed since then.

 

Urijah Faber was the first and only person to beat Cruz when they met back in the WEC. Cruz has improved leaps and bounds and has had a chip on his shoulder ever since he was choked in just over a minute by Faber. On paper, this fight is a pick ‘em. The fact that these guys have a genuine dislike for each other I feel just might be the deciding factor this evening.

 

Both Cruz and Faber are lightning quick and have excellent wrestling bases. You can’t find many flaws in either guy’s game. Faber is known for taking risks and the majority of the times, they have worked in his favor. If he tries to be overly aggressive, it might cost him the fight. Cruz has a strange style, he jumps around and is very light on his feet. If there is one weakness in Cruz’s skill set, it’s that he doesn’t have one shot knockout power.

Cruz feels like he has a lot to prove this evening as Faber is the much more well known fighter, even though he is the challenger. Dominick Cruz wants to be a household name and the face of the division. In order to do so, he needs to avenge his loss to Urijah. I don’t see that happening tonight. It’s no secret that I’m driving the Urijah Faber bandwagon and have been for many years. Not only is he one of the best fighters in the world, he is also one of the classiest guys in the sport.

I think the hatred that Cruz has for Faber is going to be his downfall. I look for Cruz to come out and be overaggressive while trying to show Urijah he’s the better man. There aren’t too many guys better than Faber when it comes to capitalizing on mistakes. I see a new champion when it’s all said and done tonight.

You want fireworks? If you answered yes then you need to tune into the Chris Leban Wanderlei Silva fight. These two heavy handed fighters have two of the most crowd pleasing styles in all of mixed martial arts. This one should be a street fight and I’m really hoping for zero takedown attempts.

Chris Leban has been asking for this fight for awhile now. Silva is one of his idols and one of the most respected strikers of all time. You will see no quit in either fighter and this one has fight of the night and possibly fight of the year written all over it.

Wanderlei has been out of action due to some injuries recently and wants to get back into the title picture. Leban is coming off of a loss and needs a win to get back on track. Two hungry fighters in possible must win situations adds up to a high paced brawl.  This one is going to be fun.

Tito Ortiz might be fighting for his job tonight. He steps in against Ryan Bader who would love to give Ortiz his pink slip.

In this one, we have two fighters on completely opposite sides of their careers. Ortiz has been in with the best of the best and is an icon in the sport. Bader is a young and hungry lion that is trying to get over the top and move into the upper echelon of fighters.

I have always been a Tito Ortiz fan. He brought something to the sport a long  time ago that nobody else did. He’s a showman. I do also feel that the sport has probably passed him by and that he is too one dimensional nowadays. I hope I’m wrong and he get a win tonight.

Ryan Bader’s last fight was against the hottest star in the game right now, Jon “Bones” Jones. Bader was embarrassed and looked completely lost in that match. The same thing might happen as he faces a legend. I am very interested to see how this one plays out.

Full fight card:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

Champ Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber (for bantamweight title)

Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben

Ryan Bader vs. Tito Ortiz

Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller

Rafael dos Anjos vs. George Sotiropoulos

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki

Aaron Simpson vs. Brad Tavares

Anthony Njokuani vs. Andre Winner

Jeff Hougland vs. Donny Walker

Once again, the UFC will show every single fight that happens tonight. What a holiday treat for fight fans. I love this card. There isn’t one fight that I don’t have high hopes for and would rule out as a possible fight of the night candidate. If anyone is on the fence for ordering this pay per view, pull the trigger and tune in. It’s going to be a fireworks display and the grand finale also known as the main event is going to be electric.

Don’t miss it.