When Agent Smith finally beat Neo - Cody Garbrandt vs Dominick Cruz

 

The Martix catches up to everyone

The history of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) cannot be written without the legends of the lighter weight classes and their rivalries. The longest and perhaps most bitter rivalry south of 155 pounds is undoubtedly that of Dominick ‘The Dominator’ Cruz and ‘The California Kid’ Urijah Faber.

Now, there is an eerie similarity between this rivalry and the Keanu Reeves movie franchise –  The Matrix; of which MMA fans and movie buffs, in particular, would recall the protagonist ‘Neo’ portrayed by Mr. Reeves, fighting several clones of the antagonist ‘Agent Smith’.

Now picture Cruz as Neo, Faber as Agent Smith and the Team Alpha Male (TAM) trained prodigies of Faber as the clones. That, right there, is a fight that Cruz has been dealing with for about a decade. This rivalry between Cruz and Faber, and consequentially, TAM, dates back to the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) championship bout between Cruz and Faber in March of 2007.

Faber handed Cruz his first pro loss submitting him via guillotine choke, a trademark submission of Faber’s gym TAM. This loss was the beginning of a long and bitter rivalry between Cruz and TAM which saw Cruz fight several TAM fighters including- Joseph Benavidez (2 times), Urijah Faber (3 times), TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.

From March of 2007 to December 30, 2016 at UFC 207, Cruz kept fighting Team Alpha Male fighters or as he, himself, refers to them- ‘Team Alpha Fail’ fighters. He fought them and beat them, one by one, and in the process, avenged his lone career loss to Faber.

Hereafter, Cruz defended his title against Demetrius ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, who in 2017, is considered by many as the greatest pound for pound fighter. However, Cruz revealed he had an ACL tear in May, 2012. Then in December, 2012, Cruz was said to have undergone another ACL surgery.

Cruz then went on to suffer a groin injury in early 2014 and in December, 2014, he declared that he suffered an ACL injury in his other knee. Throughout these hardships and setbacks, there was one thing that Cruz could fall back on.

His winning record inside the Octagon.

No matter what, be it injuries in training or being sidelined from the sport due to post-surgery rehabilitation, Cruz kept fighting and winning when he stepped into the cage. Cruz’s biggest wins in recent history came against TJ Dillashaw and Faber.

He regained the UFC Bantamweight  crown which he was previously stripped off due to injuries by beating Dillashaw and beat Faber at UFC 199, successfully defending his BW belt and finishing the Cruz-Faber trilogy 2-1.

Just when it felt that the Cruz vs TAM rivalry has finally come to an end, a new challenger emerged. Just a few fights old in MMA and relatively unproven against the elite in the UFC 135 pound division, Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt was chosen to face Cruz for Cruz’s BW title as the co-main event of UFC 207 that featured the return of global MMA superstar and pop icon ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey.

The stage was set for Cruz to shine as the co-main event of the UFC 207 fight card.

Lots of fans tuning in for Rousey would also be introduced to Cruz’s unique style of fighting. Now, as great as Cruz is, the fight game is also a business; a business that also needs to attract casual MMA watchers to drive up the PPV sales and revenue for the fighters and the MMA organization promoting the said fights.

And no one attracts casual fans or even first time MMA watchers to events, better than Ronda Rousey, and more recently, Conor McGregor. Featuring on the Rousey main card in a five round title fight was an incredible opportunity for Cruz to breakout into the mainstream and become a superstar in his own right.

But then, staying true to the pattern of 2016, a year filled with crazy upsets and underdog stories in MMA, Garbrandt outworked Cruz en route to a unanimous decision victory.