Urijah Faber open to UFC return for the right fight at the right time

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is doing his best to ride out the coronavirus storm, just like the rest of the world.

But when the sports world gets up and running once again, the 40-year-old former WEC champion is ready for the challenge of getting back into the octagon.

Faber is 1-1 since returning from a two-year retirement. He scored a memorable knockout of Ricky Simon in just 46 seconds in his hometown of Sacramento, Calif., last July. But his follow-up fight was a one-sided loss to Petr Yan at UFC 245.

While Faber displayed his legendary toughness in simply getting into the third round with Yan before losing via head kick, the loss was such that one had to wonder if he’d be back.

Speaking remotely to MMA Junkie Radio recently, Faber has indicated that yes, in fact, he’s down with the idea of giving things another go, so long as it’s the right fight at the right time.

“I’m definitely not against it,” Faber said. “Especially with all this stuff going on, I feel like this could be a … ‘Cinderella Man’ scenario where people need to fight to put food on the table. I’ve been a guy who has been fairly intelligent about funding retirement and making decent investments. But you have no idea what the landscape is going to look like, and for people who have jobs and are able bodied and have the means to make a living, it might be a super valuable thing to be able to go out there and compete.”

 

Faber indicated the UFC already had offered his management team fights, bouts which likely would have been postponed during the UFC’s hiatus.

“It’s a challenge for myself, would be a challenge physically for myself, but it’s a really fun thing for me, and it’s something that I’m still so passionate about and I’m really good at. I wouldn’t count it out. They’ve offered a bunch of different fights already for fights that would have been canceled with coronavirus and everything, but there’s some dates out there that sound interesting and possible opponents.”

The offers included potential meetings with Pedro Munhoz, who had called him out, and a potential rematch with Frankie Edgar, who earned a five-round unanimous decision in Faber’s only featherweight bout in the past 10 years. Faber indicated he’d still be open to fighting either man.

“My manager, they had throwin out some names and possible dates. One was Pedro Munhoz; he had called us out. … Frankie (Edgar) is in the mix. Obviously, we fought before, but that was the other name people floated, but nothing concrete,” Faber said. “I know some fights in San Francisco are coming up that might be a target, but for me, I really have to take it serious, and I honestly haven’t been training like I would do if I was going to take a fight. Especially at my age, you gotta train like its Rocky Balboa, getting up early and drinking the raw eggs and all that kind of stuff, and I haven’t been in that mode.”

Either way, “The California Kid” is counting his blessings. He knows that in this uncertain time, simply having options is something not everyone can say.

“I’m definitely not ruling it out,” Faber said. “Especially with all the indecisiveness that is going on in the world, I feel fortunate be able to go out and do something that focuses my time and attention most of my life to be one of the best at. So, you know, opportunity could knock.”