UFC
Urijah Faber vs. Masanori Kanehara reportedly headed to UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan
Jul 28, 2014 - 1:55:56 PM Urijah Faber vs. Masanori Kanehara reportedly headed to UFC Fight Night 52 in Japan

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Urijah Faber's going to be heading to Japan for his next fight, but it's not coming against Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto.

According to a report from Fight Sport Asia, Yamamoto suffered an injury in training that will keep him off the UFC Fight Night 52 card in Japan on Sept. 20, and Faber will now take on Masanori Kanehara.

Faber, the former WEC Featherweight Champion and three-time UFC Bantamweight Title challenger, continues to display his dominance in non-title competition, as he submitted Alex Caceres earlier this month at UFC 175. A minor injury kept him from fighting in front of the Sacramento crowd next month at UFC 177, but he'll return less than a month after that in Japan.

As for Kanehara, the 11-year vet makes his UFC debut in his home country with wins in six of his last seven fights. The sole blemish in that run is a disqualification loss from April.

The UFC Fight Night 52 card will air live in the U.S. on UFC Fight Pass, headlined by the heavyweight bout between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson.

Penick's Analysis: Faber's in a spot right now where he's kind of treading water and getting paid to fight. It's really unfortunate that his rematch with Renan Barao in February came on such short notice, because he may have performed better with a full camp to prepare. Now, the outcome may not have changed, but he made such a quick turnaround that it certainly wasn't him at his best. But for now, he's just hanging out in the division until his teammate T.J. Dillashaw is no longer the Champion or until such time where that fight makes sense for them both.

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