After suffering a brutal loss to “No Mercy” Petr Yan, Urijah Faber renews UFC contract and talks future fights with AG Fight.
Urijah Faber has had a spotty history with the UFC, but after flirting with a return to the sport last December, his agents have confirmed he’s renewed his contract and looking to keep competing in the Bantamweight division.
A former wrestler, Faber entered the UFC by default in 2010 when the WEC merged with the UFC. Faber competed a Featherweight and later at the Bantamweight level, but retired in 2016 after a string of losses to Frankie Edgar, Dominick Cruz, and Jimmie Rivera, respectively. So Faber’s fans were happy when, in December of last year, he announced his return to the sport. The happiness was short-lived — Faber lost the fight by unanimous decision to Jimmie Rivera, who outlasted him by wearing him down in a blistering 15 minute match. You can check out the highlights of that fight in the above video.
But, Faber clearly has not been dissuaded from following his dreams of returning to the UFC.
“I still have some fights left, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll do one of them. We’ll see what opportunities come up. I’ll stay in shape, go to the gym and have fun,” Faber took a nonchalant tone when discussing his UFC future with MMAfighting.com.
“I’m enjoying just living life, the new baby, all the business ventures,” Faber said. “It’s not a yay or nay. It’s a maybe. I’ll stay poised and ready.”
But when asked about potential matchups he envisions, Faber had a less laidback attitude. He actually had very specific thoughts in mind about what fights he would want to take on.
“For my next fight, if they give me an opponent that makes sense, I need to win again before I set my goals, be it a superfight against T.J. Dillashaw, or being able to take a title fight on short notice, or facing one of the big names in the division. You got Dominick Cruz, T.J., Jose Aldo, Henry Cejudo, Marlon Moraes and all the up and coming guys who haven’t made a name for themselves yet. It’s an interesting time and I’ll take my time and see what I feel in my heart. Those are the fights that interest me, but I need to win again before that,” Faber explained.
Clearly, Faber has taken the long view to his MMA career. He knows winning doesn’t come easy and it’ll take some time to get back into fighting shape after a few years out of the ring. It’s refreshing to see someone who is optimistic just to be on the stage and hopeful about what they can accomplish there. Faber was very successful back in the day (back in the day being less than five years ago), but he’s still young and only time will tell how much fight he has left in him. We’re rooting for Urijah Faber and would love to see a fight with T.J. Dillashaw — but only if Faber feels he’s up to the challenge.
