Urijah Faber doesn’t consider Dominick Cruz to be “dangerous”

Fan-favorite Urijah Faber wasted little time turning his attention to rival Dominick Cruz after picking up a “Submission of the Night” win over fellow former WEC champ Brian Bowles this past Saturday night at UFC 139, opting to question how much of a threat the current bantamweight title-holder poses on a recent episode of Inside MMA.

When asked whether or not he felt Cruz had improved any since they fought in July, “The California Kid” replied, “I don’t know (but) he’s not dangerous though.”

“He’s a world champion, there’s a reason why he’s there,” Faber continued, adding, “He has my respect, but he doesn’t have my respect when it comes to punching power or danger. I’ll walk right through his punches and march forward. It’s just gonna be tracking him down and scoring more points on the way to finishing him.”

Supporting Faber’s claim, Cruz has yet to stop an opponent under the Zuffa banner with the lone exception involving an injury sustained by Bowles in their March 2010 title-fight. Cruz’s last finish came in early 2008 against Kenneth Aimes.

As far as he own stand-up, Faber expressed his belief that he’s constantly evolving, citing a few of his recent performances.

“I’m a better striker every day. It’s crazy. I mean I do a lot of things to work on it and, I mean, I haven’t been bad. I’ve had a lot of great fights and I’ve been knocking everyone down. The last four fights I’ve knocked guys down or shook em at least, wobbled em, and you’re gonna see my best knockouts coming.”

Cruz Feels He’s Already Seen Faber at his Best

Faber and Cruz are expected to compete in a rubber-match at some point in 2012 after splitting their first two fights with Faber submitting “The Dominator” at WEC 26 and Cruz earning the nod from the judges earlier this year at UFC 132.

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PHOTO CREDIT – UFC