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UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz takes on the dangerous Cory Garbrandt at the co-main event of UFC 207 on December 30th, 2016 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The return of Ronda Rousey should continue to dominate headlines, but it’s quite arguable this is actually the title fight die hard MMA fans will be looking forward to.
Dominator
Known as the Dominator, Dominick Cruz has long been the barometer of the bantamweight division. However, successive knee injuries forced him to relinquish his title in 2014. And after several failed comeback attempts, Cruz made a successful return to the top of the division with a close decision win over T.J. Dillashaw in January of this year. Dom went on to successfully defend the belt with an easy decision win over Urijah Faber at UFC 199.
Cruz’s opponent is a product of Faber’s Team Alpha Male. Cory Garbrandt has been knocking out opponent after opponent to earn his first title shot. The 25-year old Ohio native has knocked out 9 of 10 opponents in an unbeaten MMA career. Garbrandt has knocked out his last three opponents in the first round. In his most recent fight, he stopped Takeya Mizugaki in the opening minute of their bout. Garbrandt has the power to knockout any opponent. But he has never faced one quite like Dominick Cruz.
Evasion over Aggression
The champion opened as a more than 2-1 favorite at -225. The lines haven’t changed much at -220 for Dom and +180 for Cory Garbrandt. Dominick Cruz is hard to hit but he isn’t unhittable. And it only takes a few punches from Cory Garbrandt to knock the living daylights out of you. So, you can’t really say No Love has no chance. But if Garbrandt can’t connect early or score that dreaded first round KO, it’s hard to imagine him going five rounds with a maestro. Garbrandt has never seen a round 4 or 5 before and Cruz is going to show him what they’re like.
Cruz will dictate this fight with his angles. He is going to stick and move and make Garbrandt miss like he’s never missed before. In short, Cory Garbrandt’s aggression may be no match for Dom’s evasion. And not only is Cruz going to make him miss, but the Dominator is going to counter him all night, as well. Cory may be powerful but T.J. Dillashaw is much quicker and faster. If Cruz beat a prime T.J. Dillashaw, there is no doubt he is going to school Cory Garbrandt. After a wild first round, it an easy decision win here for Dominick Cruz. He’s got to change his monicker though from Dominator to Decisionator.
