WEC
WEC QUOTABLES: Urijah Faber feels he'll be more competitive fighting near his natural weight at bantamweight
Nov 10, 2010 - 12:30:00 PM WEC QUOTABLES: Urijah Faber feels he'll be more competitive fighting near his natural weight at bantamweight

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"It's funny because you've got the Internet warriors and all these people that are experts in the sport that are like, 'You hit a roadblock, so now you're dropping down. I've been a 145-pounder since I started in this game because there was no 135-pound weight class. This is before most people were even covering the sport at all, before people knew what it was. I came into this sport a light guy. I was 133 pounds all through college. That was my competitive weight as a full-grown adult. I'm back at it. I feel great. I was good enough to compete at 145 and be a champion, and I'm good enough to be a 135-pound champ...

I never counted myself out. I've lost to three guys in my career. Out of seven years, I've lost to three individuals. They're all bigger than I am, and they're all tough, tough guys. Tyson Griffin is two weights above me in the UFC now. Mike Brown fought in the UFC. When I first started in the sport, I was there when he took his first fight in the UFC and then dropped down and barely made 145 for a long time... Jose Aldo is a phenom. What an incredible person. I think we're going to look down in history, and that's going to be a fight where people are going to have discovered a superstar in the sport. That guy is amazing, and I plan on being the same. Now I'm going to be fighting at a weight I feel is my most competitive. That's what being a competitor is about: giving yourself every advantage to win...

People don't understand, I was a 133-pounder for five years. Same frame, and I would have to compete one hour after weigh-ins, and it would be for six months at a time. This is every three-to-four months. It's a 24-hour weigh-in. I basically feel like it's the right move... I'm fighting the best guys in the world, and I'm ready for that. I'm excited. This is something that's been a long time coming."

-Urijah Faber talks to MMAJunkie.com about his drop to 135 lbs., finally fighting in his natural weight class and how he feels it won't be a problem for him at WEC 52 this week.

Penick's Analysis: When you look at what Faber was able to accomplish as a featherweight considering the size disadvantage he had in nearly every fight, it was an incredible run. Now at a more natural weight, he's going to be faster, he's going to compare favorably in height to most of his competitors and he's going to be a major force in the division. It is crazy to look at the fact that the three fighters he's lost to have all had significant size advantages on him, and even though his fight with Aldo wasn't even close, he's one of only four people to go the distance with the Champ, and he did it in five rounds. I think he gets through Mizugaki with a fair amount of ease on Thursday, and then it's on to the UFC to see if he can become the face of the UFC's bantamweight division.

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