After an improbable and world-changing 17-year run in the fight biz, the UFC is finally set to crown its first bantamweight champion. The historic honor, and a sparkling new UFC belt, will go to the winner of Thursday night’s battle between Dominick Cruz and challenger Scott Jorgensen at WEC 53 in Glendale, Ariz. The 25-year-old Cruz, who previously lived and trained in Arizona for a time, feels like a man of destiny. “I’ve been put in this position for a reason,” said the reigning WEC titleholder, making his second defense of the belt he won in March from Brian Bowles. “God has blessed me with this position to make history. None of this happened by accident. I’m excited that we’re coming over to the UFC and we get to be the very first guys that have ever fought in this division. It’s just an awesome feeling and I think it’s definitely going to be like a legacy that we’ve all started.” In weighing the gravity of his present situation, Cruz (16-1) alluded to legendary pioneers such as Randy Couture and Royce Gracie and “all those guys that started the UFC.” “Well, in a sense that’s kind of a way a lot of us guys have done for the 135- pound division,” Cruz continued. “We’ve kind of jump-started it and set the bar for everybody else who’s here to follow. So I’m just pumped that God has blessed me with these opportunities.” Standing in Cruz’s way is a former Division I wrestling standout that has skyrocketed up the bantamweight rankings since dropping his WEC debut to Damacio Page nearly 3 years ago. Jorgensen (11-3) credits the loss to Page as the turning point in his career, and has caught fire since by overwhelming seven of his last eight foes. The lone setback during that span – via split decision to Antonio Banuelos – was a contest many believed Jorgensen actually won. Fighting out of Boise, Idaho, Jorgensen has raised eyebrows with a rapidly-improving standup arsenal. He has stood and banged for extended periods of time against Banuelos (twice), Brad Pickett, Takeya Mizugaki and Kenji Osawa, and has never been outclassed in that realm, to the surprise of many. In fact, Jorgensen usually lands the more damaging punches on his feet, and his guillotine choke is downright wicked, making him even more dangerous. But does he have what it takes to dethrone Cruz, who has won seven straight largely by mystifying his opponents, almost toying with them, with his speedy and elusive style of dancing around the cage, landing combos and then darting out of harm’s way? “Dominick, he’s a champ, you know?” Jorgensen said. “He finds a way to win. But his style to me is just – he moves a lot and he’s very mobile but I feel it’s a very defensive style. You know, he uses his strikes to set up his movement and his movement to set up his strikes and in both ways he tries to stay out of big exchanges. He tries to land quickly and get out but I don’t feel like they’re very effective strikes. You know, they’re scoring points but they don’t hurt.