UFC 199: Urijah Faber set to take on Dominic Cruz

On Sunday, you can add Faber and Cruz to that mix when bantamweight titans Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz meet for the third time for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 199 in Inglewood, California.

They first met nine years ago, as featherweights, with 27-year-old Faber the reigning WEC champion and Cruz his challenger at just 21.

The fight was brief, offering not a clue of what was to come between the two men.

Cruz, nine fights into his career had not yet fully developed the footwork that would come to define his fighting style while Faber was at the peak of his powers.

It took just one minute and 38 seconds for Faber to end the fight with a mounted guillotine choke.

Fast forward four years and the WEC had been absorbed by the UFC. Cruz was the reigning WEC bantamweight champion, while Faber had gone down to bantamweight for his last WEC fight. A win over Eddie Wineland in his UFC debut put Faber on a collision course with Cruz once again, this time as the challenger.

The fight, at UFC 132, was close, and Faber, four days away from the trilogy, admits that he should have done more, and will do more to win the rubber match.

"People look at the wins and losses in these fights and rarely, especially the newcomers, do they go back and watch the fight," he said.

"I've watched that fight, the last fight in 2011. It was a very, very close fight. I hurt him more than he hurt me and really, it's apples to oranges when it came to the judging so I need to do more, I need to get the finish or I need to be more active, I need to just convince and prove that I'm the best."

There was a time when fans thought this historic third matchup might not happen. Cruz spent a combined 1570 days on the sidelines due to injury and returned against a former team-mate of Faber, TJ Dillashaw.

Faber said he always knew Cruz would return, and said it looked like he had not missed a beat as he defeated Dillashaw via split decision.

"I knew Dominic Cruz enough to know he's not a quitter he takes bumps and bruises and comes back and I can respect that," he said.

"I always thought this was going to happen. I kept the faith, he did as well and we're about to do this.

"Mentally and technically, he's still champion level. I do feel like his body looks the part, even though he's had surgery and took a desk job.

"I don't think that's what wins fights, it's about your mentality, it's about your technique it's about your drive. He has that still and I can appreciate that, but every little bit counts. This is the best I've felt in a very long time and the team is the best it's ever been and I'm going to get in there and bring that strap back to Sacramento."

Now 37, with 41 professional fights under his belt, Faber is keenly aware of his own mortality inside the cage but as one of the few who started fighting before there was any money in the sport, he's not prepared to let go until he has that belt.

Faber admits, however, that once he has the belt, anything is possible.

"When you look back at it, man I didn't think I'd be fighting this long," he said.

"I don't see myself sticking around forever to defend that belt, we've got guys like Cody Garbrandt, we've got big fights in other weight classes that I think are interesting for me as well.

"I think there are a few fights at 135 that make a lot of sense for me, but I'm not in this thing forever man. I'm very aware of that. I don't want to go out and outstay my welcome either. Being the champion, having a couple of big fights and calling it a day would be fine with me but you never know what's going to happen, you know if I can't get enough or…who knows what the future holds."

If one thing is certain, Faber believes the team he founded 12 years ago, Team Alpha Male, is on the up, despite a rough 18 months that saw the gym almost implode after the departure of former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and striking coach Duane Ludwig.

Last week, Cody Garbrandt defeated Thomas Almeida to put himself firmly in the mix in the bantamweight division, and Faber takes on the air of a proud father when talking about Garbrandt and the achievements of other young fighters he has helped grow.

"The last year and a half has been more disheartening, in my opinion, because of greed more than anything else, it was like a divorce in the family and it was hard for a lot of guys. This thing has been going for 12 years now and we have generations of guys that are up and coming.

"It would mean the world to me if Cody wins a title and it's just a matter of time, it's very obvious.

"Cody is a loyal guy, and he was one of the most upset guys when it came to the split…now he's a huge leader in our team in terms of his work ethic, his morale and the way he carries himself."

UFC 199 starts with preliminary bouts at 8am AEST on Fox Sports, with the pay per view card starting at midday on Main Event.