The Lowdown 05.30.09: Urijah Faber

Posted by Frank Fedele on 05.30.2009

Last week we looked at the former WEC welterweight that moved into the UFC, Brock Larson. This week we will look at another the face of the WEC, Urijah Faber, who tries on June 7th to get his Featherweight title back from Mike Brown. This and some reaction to the results from UFC 98 in the lowdown.

Last Week Roundup

Last week I wrote how Brock Larson was bringing up his game to eventually challenge for the middleweight belt in the UFC. This would work wonderfully for Mr. Larson if he gained some weight so he could actually become a middleweight, instead of the welterweight he actually is. Thanks for some readers pointing that out on last weeks article and I apologize for screwing that up. Chalk it up to a really bad week, which was made much better by some great fights on Saturday night. Mr. Larson did indeed win and moved himself up the Welterweight ranks. The Welterweight division is a much different beast than the middleweight, with solid fighters up and down the roster. The fighters after champion Georges St. Pierre include such stalwarts as Matt Hughes, Thiago Alves, Jon Fitch, Martin Kampmann, Josh Koshcheck, Mike Swick, Carlos Condit and Karo Parisyan. The fight that makes the most sense for Larson is a rematch with Condit with the winner moving further up the rankings. I would truthfully like to see Larson against any of those fighters listed, but he would be an underdog in any of the fights.

Background

Urijah Faber is the California kid, growing up in Sacramento. He was a great athlete growing up and wrestled in both high school and in college at the University of California-Davis. At UC-Davis he became the all-time winner and qualified twice in the Division-I qualifiers. Faber began his MMA career soon after college, using his wrestling background with some improved striking to dominate the local California scene. Faber signed with the WEC in 2006 and has become the face of the federation since.


Urijah Faber

Faber was the champion in the Featherweight division in the WEC until losing his belt in shocking fashion in Mike Brown in WEC Faber versus Brown. Faber went for a spinning elbow and ran right into a punch by Brown that knocked him to the canvas and gave Brown a chance to finish him on the ground. In WEC 41 on June 7th, he will get a chance to redeem himself and get his belt back.

Previous Fights

Faber began on the local California circuit in 2003 in the Gladiator Challenge against Jay Valencia. Faber eight straight wins between the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage before finally taking his first loss versus Tyson Griffin. He rebounded quickly, running off four more wins before joining the WEC in WEC 19.


Faber in the cage

Faber's first bout in the WEC was against Cole Escovedo where he knocked him out to win the Featherweight belt. Faber continued to fight in the King of the Cage and some local California circuits, racking up wins there before coming back to the WEC again to face Joe Pearson in WEC 25. Faber again came out on top, winning with strikes in the first round. He started to roll through the division, winning by choke in three straight fights none going longer than the second round. Then came the most hyped fight to date in the WEC when Faber took on UFC veteran Jens Pulver, dropping down in weight class for the fight. The fight went five long rounds with Faber winning by decision.


Faber versus Pulver

Faber then lost to Mike Brown in his next fight, getting knocked out in the first round in his home state. Faber came back strong though, beating Pulver again, this time in the first round, to earn his title shot.

Faber's WEC Record
Featherweight
WEC 19: Win versus Cole Escovedo by TKO in the 2nd round
WEC 25: Win versus Joe Pearson by Submission (Strikes) in the 1st round
WEC 26: Win versus Dominic Cruz by Submission (Guillotine Choke) in the 1st round
WEC 28: Win versus Chance Farrar by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in the 1st round
WEC 31: Win versus Jeff Curran by Submission (Guillotine Choke) in the 2nd round
WEC 34: Win versus Jens Pulver by Decision in the 5th round
WEC 36: Loss to Mike Brown by TKO (Strikes) in the 1st round
WEC 38: Win versus Jens Pulver by Submission (Guillotine Choke) in the 1st round

As you can tell, Faber likes the choke to finish his fights. His striking is solid too, with lighting fast hands and knees peppering his opponent. Brown is probably stronger than Faber striking, so you may see Faber change his plan and look to take Brown down to try to finish him on the ground. I expect this fight to go longer than the last as Faber won't make the big mistake this time.

Final Thoughts

UFC 98 was a solid card, with Lyoto Machida earning the Light Heavyweight belt with a win versus Rashad Evans. Machida will be a difficult matchup for anybody, with his unorthodox style confusing his opponents and his pin point striking causing pain. Matt Hughes beat Matt Serra in a bout that would have been much better a couple of years earlier when each fighter was younger and better than they are now. Will Hughes start to climb back up the Welterweight ranks or is this just a win over an overmatched opponent. We shall see in the coming months.

That is all for this week, please come back next week where we will get the lowdown on another MMA fighter that will be fighting in the UFC soon and start to look at UFC 99, The Comeback with Wanderlei Silva versus Rich Franklin in the main event. Please take the time to bookmark 411mania.com. One quick step and all the news you need is but a click away.