As for Cruz, the UFC bantamweight champion will square off with Faber`s protégé Cody Garbradnt in the co-main event of UFC 207 in just two weeks. A new rivalry that is catching a lot of attention in the combat sport scene since it was first announced.

According to multiple sources like MMA Fighting, the UFC is currently negotiating a fight deal between Dominick Cruz and Garbrandt for the bantamweight title at UFC 207. Garbrandt has been publicly lobbying for a title shot since he defeated Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 202 via TKO in the opening minute of the first round. The American mixed martial artist has a stunning undefeated record and won most of his pro fights by knockout.

Cruz has successfully defended the title against top UFC fighters such as Urijah Faber and Demetrious Johnson. On December 22, 2014, Cruz indicated that he had torn the ACL in his other knee, which sidelined him through 2015. Now, in 2016, Cruz is performing better than ever, defeating T.J. Dillashaw earlier this year for the belt.

The main event for UFC 207 is another championship fight between Amanda Nunes and Ronda Rousey for the women’s bantamweight. UFC 207 will be held on December 30, 2016 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In an interview earlier this week with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, the bantamweight prospect went completely off on Cruz. Apparently this wasn’t the first time either.

Garbrandt said,

I heard in an interview that he gets hit 30-percent (of the time), he has a 30-percent chance of hitting me, Dude, you give me a one-percent chance of finding your chin, I’m knocking you the f*ck out. That’s plain and simple. I got a 90-perecent knockout rate. You want to talk about statistics? That’s what he talks about, stats. That’s numbers, buddy. He wants to talk about numbers because he’s a point fighter, and point fighters go off numbers and points. I’m a knockout artist and he’s going to be on the receiving end of a vicious knockout.

Cruz had a chance to finally responded to the brash UFC contender,

Let the youngster enjoy his hype train fresh off his win. Let his people keep on building that false sense of confidence that they are all instilling into his psyche over this period, it’s good for him.

I kill hype for a living.

During the UFC 202 preliminary card, Garbrandt defeated Takeya Mizugaki via TKO in the opening minute of the first round. In fact, it only took him 48-seconds. Garbrandt currently holds an undefeated MMA record with 10 total wins. Most of them by knockout.

The UFC has not yet officially announced Cruz’s opponent, but we’ll make sure to keep you updated on Yell! Magazine.

Stay tuned!

On Episode 1 of UFC 199 Embedded, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz trains with Cat Zingano and plays with his dog in SoCal, while his opponent and longtime rival Urijah Faber hits the water with Clay Guida and Chad Mendes.

Embedded cameras also follow middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who pranks his passed out friend in the sun with funny shaped piece of cloth, while title challenger Michael Bisping spends time with his family.

Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for much more Embedded episodes to come this week.

Clearly, there’s dislike between the two and surprisingly a pre-fight brawl hasn’t broke out yet. Faber has “some respect” for Cruz, but doesn’t believe his body is “made for battle.”

Faber said,

We started around the same time. It’s been 13 years for me. It’s been 11 years for him. I have more than double the fights… You get notoriety when you fight. He deserves notoriety but he hasn’t been fighting. He’s not made for battle. His mind is made for battle. He’s got heart, he’s got those kind of things but his body is not.

Cruz fired back,

Let’s say my body isn’t built for battle. Okay. Then I’m just beating you not built for battle because of my brain. Okay. That’s fine. I’ll take that. The point is I’m facing the best guys in the division since 2009. I’m talking top three. He’s not faced those guys and each guys [sic] that I’ve faced in the top 3 of each division has been either for titles or they’re contenders or they’re the best in the world still currently now. The people that he’s faced for the title he’s lost every single time he’s faced for the title.

For the full interview, you can now watch the video clip right above. UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Weidman will be held on June 4, 2016 at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

UFC 197: Cormier vs. Jones 2 takes place on April 23, 2016 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the meantime, check out this video clip, courtesy of MMA Fighting.

For me to retire, for me to think about stopping and to not put my head down and do the [physical therapy] is absolutely insane to me, because this is what I want to do. It’s another mountain to climb. I’m fully capable of handling this mountain. I have all the tools, I have the age, and I have the mindset to handle this. – Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz

I feel for the guy, we don’t really like each other, but we’ve had some communication throughout the years and I’ve talked to him about this and we still want to fight each other. There’s no doubt, the guy’s too stubborn not to get back on the horse and heal up eventually. I’ll be cheering for him to heal up so I can punch him again. – UFC Bantamweight Urijah Faber

Former WEC and current UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz (19-1) was absent from combat sport for two years because of a serious knee injury (torn ACL) that required him to undergo surgeries to repair it.

Not too long ago, the UFC officially announced that Cruz is finally ready to step back inside the Octagon. His first opponent is a no-brainer, and it’s a championship unification bout with the Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao (31-1-1). Barao is a Brazilian mixed martial artist that holds one of the longest unbeaten streaks in MMA history and is also ranked the No.1 bantamweight in the world by a number of online media outlets.

On February 1st, at UFC 169, it won’t be an easy task for Cruz since he will have ring rust fighting against him, and Barao has proven in his fight with Urijah Faber that he can handle championship rounds without gassing out, just like Cruz before his injury. At least now we know that Barao was on his mind the entire time he was out, he also recently confirmed that’s the only fight he wanted when he got hurt:

That’s the fight I wanted since I hurt myself. That’s a fight I wanted before I hurt myself. He brings so much to the table, he’s done so much in the sport, he’s done so much for the division. That’s why I’m in this. I’m in this to challenge myself, not to go back to the No. 10 guy in the division and take a step back. If I was coming off no fights and they offered me the best guy on the planet, I’d take it. Because what’s the point of taking steps backwards in the sport?

Cruz vs. Barao is now scheduled as the main event for UFC 169 at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Aldo vs. Lamas has been officially moved to co-main event.

UFC 169 Main Card

Bantamweight – Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Renan Barão (ic)
Featherweight – José Aldo (c) vs. Ricardo Lamas
Heavyweight – Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem

Tito Ortiz: UFC Hall of Fame

The UFC organization returns to Toronto this Saturday with a stacked card featuring six of the most exciting names in all of mixed martial arts. Everyone is talking about the top three bouts in particular, including former opponents of the UFC 152 fighters.

In the main event, Jon “Bones” Jones makes the fourth defense of his UFC light heavyweight championship when he collides with challenger Vitor “the Phenom” Belfort; it is a fight which pits the most mercurially talented fighter to come along in years against the original phenom of the UFC.

The longest-reigning UFC 205lbs champion ever and the newest member of the UFC Hall of Fame – the recently retired Tito Ortiz – believes his old rival Belfort has an opportunity to score the biggest victory of any fighter from the generation which includes himself, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.

“This is the biggest chance of Vitor’s entire career,” said Ortiz. “This is everything to him as far as a his legacy– this is the biggest opportunity anyone from our generation in the UFC ever had. If he wins this fight and beats the best young champion to come along in years – then Vitor is an all-time legend and this goes down as one of the most significant wins of all time. It’s that big.

“Vitor has already shown these kids how a champion is should react when there’s an opportunity – and I hope he is just as aggressive in the Octagon as he was in accepting this fight.

“Jon can take control quickly – so Vitor has to land every time Jon gets close. Hit him in the chest, the neck, the shoulder, the arms – whatever – and sooner or later he will hit him in the face or chin. When that happens, Vitor has to explode like he always does and get Jones out of there. But Vitor has to get this done in the first two rounds. He can’t give Jones time to settle – Jon is too smart and makes adjustments too quickly. Vitor has to land before Jones has his timing down.

“I’m pumped for this fight; I want to see a guy from our generation shock the world once again.”

Check out what Dominic Cruz has to say about Benavidez vs. Johnson on the jump…