UFC
Urijah Faber targeting July 5 return, wants Dominick Cruz rematch; Cruz's coach says no timetable for return
Mar 19, 2014 - 9:05:42 PM Urijah Faber targeting July 5 return, wants Dominick Cruz rematch; Cruz's coach says no timetable for return

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Urijah Faber is looking to shake himself off after a second loss to Renan Barao in February, and he's targeting a July 5 return to the cage.

According to a report from Ariel Helwani on Wednesday's UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1, Faber wants to fight Dominick Cruz in a trilogy fight now several years in the making. Unfortunately, that might not be an option that early.

Per Cruz's coach, Eric Del Fierro, there's still no real timetable for his return from the latest injury he suffered, which allowed Faber into that bout with Barao in the first place. They're taking things slow in order to allow him to recover well enough to make his return.

Faber and Cruz first met in the WEC for Faber's WEC Featherweight Title, with Faber winning by submission. They'd meet again in the summer of 2011, with Cruz taking a decision in a close fight. They were scheduled to fight in July of 2012, but Cruz injured his knee and hasn't been back since.

Penick's Analysis: It's highly unfortunate that Cruz still doesn't have a timetable for return, but if it can be a little later in the summer, Faber remains a top option for him to fight. It'd be a great rematch if it happened, but at this stage it appears Cruz may be out a little longer still.

[Urijah Faber art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]