411 Fighter Profile: Urijah Faber
Posted by Dustin James on 05.28.2008
Some people are calling it the biggest featherweight fight in MMA history! On June 1st, Jens Pulver will fight Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight championship. What makes this the most important fight in featherweight history? I can tell you that Jens Pulver is undefeated at featherweight, but what about Faber? What's so special about this kid that makes this fight so important? Come inside as 411's Dustin James gives you the rundown on the great career thus far of "The California Kid", Urijah Faber.........
Urijah Faber
Nickname: "California Kid" Record: 20-1 Weight: 140 Height: 5'6 Hometown: Davis, California Ranking #1 Featherweight Association: Capital City Fighting Alliance Organizations: WEC, KOTC, FCP, Gladiator Challenge, TKO Accomplishments: Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship (twice), WEC Featherweight Championship, King of the Cage Bantamweight Championship
Introduction
Urijah Faber is one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA, yet still remains kind of a "small name" amongst average MMA fans. The hardcore UFC fans may not know who he is seeing as since the UFC has no featherweight or bantamweight division, Faber has yet to make a mark in the UFC. That should not cloud your judgment on just how dominant Faber truly is. He's a guy who can fight at lightweight, featherweight, or bantamweight if truly need be. Maybe it's just a matter of time before Faber bulks up and decides to give the UFC's lightweight division a try? I'm sure fans all over the world would love to see a Faber/BJ Penn fight.
Faber however seems more comfortable fighting smaller than lightweight. He's a dominant fighter with excellent submission skills as well as the willingness to bang if need be. He has been a professional fighter for 6 years now and has just managed to lose only once. Who did he lose too? One of the current top contenders for the UFC lightweight title....Tyson Griffin. Trust me, that is not a bad loss to have on your record. Faber may be best known for punishing his opponents as well as finishing them and ALWAYS giving the fans an exciting fight. When you hear that Faber is fighting, you just know that you aren't going to get a "lay and pray" fight or a fight where you are continuously getting out of your seat to grab a beer....even though the beer you are currently holding is still half full.
Maybe one day Faber will get his shot on the "big stage" of the UFC. But for now he's just happy beating people up in the WEC. He has a huge fight coming up on June 1st against Jens Pulver (who is undefeated at featherweight) and this will be one of Faber's biggest tests to date. If he finishes off Pulver quickly, where else can Faber go in the WEC? It might be time for Faber to consider bulking up and giving that UFC lightweight division a shot. Or perhaps that TRUE dream match we MMA fanatics want, you know the one I'm talking about......Faber vs. Kid Yamamoto. Will it happen? Not sure, but it should......
Early Life
Urijah Faber was born on May 14, 1979 in Isla Vista, California. Faber was raised holistically, with his parents refusing to give him immunization shots. Faber still scarcely uses conventional medicine and instead maintains a healthy diet and exercises daily. As a teenager Faber played football, roller hockey, and wrestled. He attended the University of California, Davis where he was awarded a scholarship after an impressive freshman year on the wrestling team. While attending UC Davis, Faber became the all-time win leader for the school as well as a two-time NCAA Division I qualifier. After graduating, Faber stayed on the coaching staff as the lightweight wrestling coach. It was then that Faber began his MMA career.
After just one month of Brazilian jiu-jitsu training and no striking preparation, Faber entered and won his first MMA fight. Faber was offered the first title fight of his career after just his 2nd professional fight. Faber won the Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship in his third professional fight. He would hold the title for over a year, where he then lost it to Tyson Griffin in his only professional loss. However, between those two fights Faber would go on to capture the King of the Cage Bantamweight Championship in his 6th professional fight.
After his loss to Griffin, Faber managed to score 3 wins in a row and was then offered the chance to come in and face Cole Escovedo for the WEC Featherweight Championship. Faber won the title after a corner stoppage. Faber would then go on to capture the Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship for the second time when he defeated Naoya Uematsu via TKO. Faber has since managed to successfully defend his WEC featherweight title 4 times since winning it in 2006. His biggest test may be coming soon however......
MMA Career
Win, Jeff Curran, Submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 4:34: WEC Featherweight Championship WEC 31 - Las Vegas, Nevada - December 12, 2007
Win, Joe Pearson, Submission (strikes) - Round 1, 2:31: WEC Featherweight Championship WEC 25 - Las Vegas, Nevada - January 20, 2007
Win, Bibiano Fernandes, TKO (cut) - Round 1, 4:16 King Of The Cage: All Stars - Reno, Nevada - October 28, 2006
Win, Enoch Wilson, TKO - Round 2, 1:01 FCP: Malice At Cow Palace - San Francisco, California - September 9, 2006
Win, Naoya Uematsu, TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:35: Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship GC 51 - Sacramento, California - July 1, 2006
Win, Charlie Valencia, Submission (rear naked choke) - Round 1 KOTC: Predator - Globe, Arizona - May 13, 2006
Win, Cole Escovedo, TKO (corner stoppage) - Round 2, 5:00: WEC Featherweight Championship WEC 19 - Lemoore, California - March 17, 2006
Win, Ivan Menjivar, DQ (illegal kick to downed opponent) - Round 2, 2:02 TKO 24 - Laval, Quebec, Canada - January 28, 2006
Win, Charles Bennett, Submission (rear naked choke) - Round 1, 4:38 GC 46 - Coarsegold, California - December 11, 2005
Win, Shawn Bias, Submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:24 KOTC: Execution Day - Reno, Nevada - October 29, 2005
Loss, Tyson Griffin, TKO - Round 3, 0:05 GC 42 - Lakeport, California - September 10, 2005
Win, Hiroyuki Abe, TKO (cut) - Round 3, 2:37 KOTC: Mortal Sins - Primm, Nevada - May 7, 2005
Win, David Granados, Submission (rear naked choke) - Round 1, 2:13 GC 35 - Porterville, California - March 13, 2005
Win, Eben Kaneshiro, Submission (strikes) - Round 3, 4:33 KOTC: Revenge - San Jacinto, California - November 14, 2004
Win, Rami Boukai, Decision (majority) KOTC: San Jacinto - San Jacinto, California - September 24, 2004
Win, Del Hawkins, TKO - Round 1, 3:19 GC 30 - California - August 19, 2004
Win, David Velasquez, Decision (unanimous) GC 27 - California - June 3, 2004
Win, George Adkins, TKO (corner stoppage) - Round 2, 2:42 GC 22 - California - February 12, 2004
Win, Jay Valencia, Submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:22 GC 20 - Colusa, California - November 13, 2003
The Future
Jens Pulver. The former UFC lightweight champion who is currently undefeated at the featherweight level. The biggest challenge so far for Urijah Faber? A lot of people would agree. A lot of people would say Tyson Griffin was Faber's biggest test to this day. We will see come June 1st. Personally, I see Faber having little trouble with Pulver. I believe Faber is a different kind of fighter than Pulver has ever seen. But as I mentioned earlier, if Faber dominates this fight.....where does he go from there?
I would say that if Faber can't secure that "dream fight" with Kid Yamamoto, then it might be high time for Faber to hit the "Weight Gainer 3000" and contemplate moving up to the UFC's lightweight division. Imagine the opponents that would there for Faber! You have a re-match with Tyson Griffin, plus plenty of new opponents like BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Roger Huerta, Kenny Florian, Nate Diaz. It might be something that the "California Kid" wants to think about. Either way, the future looks good for Faber.
