Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Legendary UFC champion avenged his one loss to greatest rival in historic title fight that set a high bar

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 10:26 PM ET

On this day in 2011, Dominick Cruz settled the score with his greatest rival.

Many still regard ‘The Dominator’ to be the greatest bantamweight of all time, even if Merab Dvalishvili might be closing that gap.

While his return to the Octagon in 2016 where Cruz reclaimed the 135-pound title might be his most impressive accomplishment, it was his initial run in the promotion which showed that he was on another level.

UFC 132 featured some remarkable highlights, including Chris Leben’s 27 second knockout over Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz’s huge upset against Ryan Bader.

However, it was the main event of the evening that won fight of the night honors after Cruz kickstarted his title reign inside the Octagon.

Dominick Cruz avenged his only loss by beating Urijah Faber in the UFC’s first bantamweight title fight

In his 10th pro fight, Dominick Cruz’s undefeated record would come to an end after he was submitted by Urijah Faber at WEC 26, kicking off a feud that many still believe to be one of the best in the history of the sport.

‘The Dominator’ would bounce back in style after moving down from featherweight and putting together a win streak that led him to the WEC title.

With WEC merging with the UFC in October of 2010, at WEC 53, Cruz defeated Scott Jorgensen to successfully defend his belt for the second time and win the inaugural UFC bantamweight championship at the same time.

The first UFC bantamweight title fight was a no brainer for the promotion with Cruz and Faber being two of the biggest names in the division who were already rivals

At UFC 132, the second chapter of their rivalry played out but a lot had changed in the four years since their first meeting in the WEC.

Faber still had a lot of success in a competitive fight that went the full five-rounds but this time around, it was Cruz that got his hand raised as his incredibly unique style proved to be too much for ‘The California Kid’.

The UFC’s bantamweight division was off to a great start, though Cruz would defend the title only one more time before being forced to vacate it due to injuries.

Dominick Cruz closed out his rivalry with Urijah Faber with a dominant showing in their trilogy bout

UFC 132 wasn’t the final time that Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber shared the Octagon with one another.

In 2016, after Cruz had reclaimed the bantamweight title by beating Faber’s former student TJ Dillashaw, they were matched for UFC 199 where the champion made a statement.

Cruz won all five of the rounds on two of the scorecards to close out the trilogy and put their feud to bed at long last before hIS reign was ended by another one of Faber’s former students, Cody Garbrandt.

Following UFC 199, the two former rivals have shared some respectful encounters over the years and put the past behind them, though ‘The Dominator’ will rarely allow anyone to beat him in an argument.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: