By Mark Gessner

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber
Aired live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV

1. Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit (26-5) vs. Dong Hyun "The Stun Gun" Kim (14-0-1) [Welterweight Division]

Round One: Condit was taken down by Kim early in the round. Condit was able to sweep and gain top position. He attempted a guillotine choke but Kim was able to escape and get back to his feet. Condit landed a front kick to the stomach of Kim and followed up with a flying knee that landed plush to Kim's jaw. Kim dropped to the mat, Condit jumped on him, and pounded out a TKO victory.

Official Decision: Carlos Condit defeated Dong Hyun Kim via TKO at 2:58 of the first round

Gessner's Glance: Extremely impressive flying knee by Condit to score the TKO victory. Set it up nicely with the front kick to measure distance and landed it clean to the jaw. Great, great start to the show.

2. "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz (15-8-1) vs. Ryan "Darth" Bader (12-1) [Light Heavyweight Division]

Round One: Ortiz dropped Bader with a right hook early in the round. He jumped Bader and started throwing elbows and hammerfists. Bader attempted to get back to his feet, but Ortiz locked in a guillotine choke. Bader struggled to escape, but was unable to and ended up tapping out.

Official Decision: Tito Ortiz defeated Ryan Bader via submission due to guillotine choke at 1:56 of the first round

Gessner's Glance: Not only did Tito win a fight when he needed it the most, with his job with the UFC on the line, he did so in spectacular fashion. He caught Bader with the big shot he needed to land with the right hook, and his experience led to the victory.

3. Dennis "The Menace" Siver (18-7) vs. "Handsome" Matt Wiman (13-5) [Lightweight Division]

Round One: 10-9 Wiman. Close back and forth round. Wiman had the edge in takedowns include one in the final :30 of the round to solidify the round on my card.

Round Two: 10-9 Wiman. Wiman took Siver down early and displayed dominant ground and pound,busting Siver's forehead wide open with elbows from open guard.

Round Three: Siver 10-9. Good standup striking by both. Siver escaped submissions on the ground from Wiman with relative ease, escaping a guillotine and omoplata. 29-28 Wiman on my card.

Official Decision: Dennis Siver defeated Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Gessner's Glance: Not as outrageous as some decision victories, but I do not know how Siver could be awarded the first round on anyones card. Good close fight, but another disputable scoring.

4. "The Axe Murder" Wanderlei Silva (33-10-1-1) vs. Chris "The Crippler" Leben (25-7) [Middleweight Division]

Round One: Josh Rosenthal was the referee for this fight, so I got my wish. Silva connected with right early. Leben landed with a left. Leben connected with an uppercut leading to Silva muay thai clinching Leben. In the clinch, Leben unloaded with numerous left uppercuts, dropping Silva and knocking him out cold. When Silva came to, he attempted pulling guard on Rosenthal who was checking on him, unaware of what happened.

Official Decision: Chris Leben defeated Wanderlei Silva via TKO at :27 of the first round

Gessner's Glance: Awesome knockout for Leben and probably the nail in the coffin of Wanderlei's career. You knew going in that this fight would not last long and would end with someone out cold on the mat, but I did not see Leben ending it in under half a minute. Despite Condit receiving the knockout of the night bonus, I think this knockout was more impressive.

5. Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz (17-1) defends the UFC Bantamweight Championship vs. "The California Kid" Urijah Faber (25-4)

Round One: Cruz 10-9. Close round but had the slightest of edges in stand up striking and did not let Faber take him to the ground. Cruz threw and connected with more strikes but it was a very close round.

Round Two: Cruz 10-9. Another close round with Cruz again throwing and landing more strikes. Cruz solidified the round with a late takedown.

Round Three: 10-9 Cruz. Faber was able to score a takedown but Cruz was able to scramble and end up in top side control, negating the takedown. Slight standup edge. Cruz has the fight won if it goes to decision, regardless of the championship rounds. With that said, any of the three rounds could have gone to either fighter.

Round Four: 10-9 Faber. Cruz is landing more shots, but Faber is landing better shots throughout the fight, but to a much greater extent this round. 39-37 Cruz on my card so far and an excellent fight.

Round Five: 10-9 Cruz. Like the previous four rounds, close round that could go either way. Cruz took the round with back-to-back takedowns in closing minute. 49-46 Cruz on my card.

Official Decision: Dominick Cruz defeated Urijah Faber via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 48-47) to retain the UFC Bantamweight Championship

Gessner's Glance: This was one of closest fights I have seen in quite sometime, probably since Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125 for the UFC Lightweight Championship. For a fight that was scored 50-45, and as much as there are deficiency in judging, it was a conceivable score and honestly could have been scored that way for either fighter. Great fight, and I'm excited to see the rubber match, hopefully soon.

Overall Show Thoughts: Great show top-to-bottom. The PPV opened strong with Condit's awesome flying knee TKO of Kim. That was then followed up with Tito saving his career in shocking fashion with his guillotine choke win over Bader. Siver and Wiman then had a closely fought fight with Siver picking up the disputable decision victory. In the co-main event, Leben destroyed Wanderlei and most likely ended his career. And then, in the main event, you had five of the closest rounds in mixed martial arts. An absolutely excellent show.

Thanks again very much for clicking the link that brought you to my coverage of UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber. If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or critiques, feel free to email me at kliq4life28@gmail.com or tweet me at @MarkGessner. Have a safe and happy 4th of July Weekend.

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