The Specialists
FIGHTER SPOTLIGHT: Former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber
Nov 11, 2010 - 11:22:11 AM FIGHTER SPOTLIGHT: Former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber

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By: Dan Wyatt, MMATorch Contributor

Name: Urijah “The California Kid” Faber

Promotion: UFC/WEC

Division: 145 & 135

Height: 5 ft 6 in

Reach: 69 in

Record: 23-4

Specializes: Kick Boxing, Wrestling

Career Summary: Faber has been running through opponents for the past few years, but not many have noticed. He is arguably the most dominant fighter to never be heard of, but that's all about to change. Faber is a guy who will benefit greatly from the WEC/UFC merger as it will finally bring him into the mainstream spotlight.

Faber was an amazing wrestler at The University of Cal Davis, leaving as their all-time wins leader. He began his career fighting in smaller promotions, and even though he was new to the sport he had no problems with his transition from wrestling to MMA, and was handling his opponents without much trouble. He was splitting time between the Gladiator Challenge promotion and King of the Cage, their parent company. He eventually claimed the title in both promotions before taking his first loss to Tyson Griffin.

He kept fighting in King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge before taking a fight in the WEC against Cole Escovedo for the WEC Featherweight Championship. He fought four more times in King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge before permanently leaving the promotions to fight in the WEC full time.

His first title defense in the WEC was against the much more experienced Joe Pearson. Pearson was a Jiu Jitsu ace who had a knack for pulling off the triangle choke, but Faber was able to neutralize Pearson’s Jiu Jitsu and get the win.

Dominick Cruz (current WEC Bantamweight Champion) was the next to step up to Urijah Faber. Faber had no troubles with his opponent and won by a nasty guillotine under two minutes into the fight.

Faber defended his title twice more before fighting UFC legend and former champion Jens Pulver. In a five round war, Faber defeated the legend by unanimous decision. Faber was able to outclass Pulver in the striking game and on the ground throughout the fight.

Faber was then to face Mike Brown who was new to the WEC, having competed just once in the organization prior to the title fight. The fight was going back and forth early before Faber got dropped by a hook. Brown swung away at the champion until the referee was forced to stop it.

Looking to rebound, Faber had a rematch with Pulver, and instead of a five round war Faber got the job done quickly by choking out his opponent in only a minute and a half.

He would once again lose to Mike Brown for the title, breaking his hand midway through the first round forcing him to use elbows instead of traditional punches the rest of the fight. He still kept the fight close but was unable to win and once again lost to Mike Brown.

He fought against Raphael Assuncao before getting another title shot, this time against Jose Aldo. Aldo had been tearing through opponents left and right and was putting his name atop many pound for pound lists heading into their meeting in the main event of the WEC's first event on pay-per-view.

The fight was a completely one sided affair that left Faber battered and bruised. Aldo landed what seemed like an endless amount of leg kicks and looked unstoppable in the fight en route to the decision win.

Faber is now dropping down to bantamweight in hopes to jump start his career back in place after losing three out of his last five fights. He'll be facing former number one contender Takeya Mizugaki.

Strengths: Urijah has a strong wrestling base that he has adapted into a great Jiu Jitsu game. Most of his wins come by submission, and he can be dangerous from the top or the bottom position. He also has powerful hands, he shows good timing on when to deliver his strikes, instead of just swinging wildly in an uncontrollable manner.

Weaknesses: His weakness could be that he was too small for the featherweight division. His losses have mostly seen him being outclassed by better opponents. Jose Aldo and Mike Brown are both damn good fighters, and could have done what they did to Faber to most people in that division.

Where he stands in the division: As a featherweight I would put him at number four behind Aldo, Brown, and Manny Gamburyan. As a bantamweight I would put him behind Miguel Torres and Dominick Cruz, but I do think that Faber has a good shot at beating both of those guys.

What the future holds: With the merger, Faber has a chance to avenge his first ever loss to Tyson Griffin. Griffin is one of the small 155 pounders and has lost two straight, he could be looking for a change of scenery and a chance to start new. If he stays at bantamweight he could fight Cruz for the Championship next if he wins. Cruz and Faber have a history and both have exchanged words and have said they would like to fight each other.

How close he is to a title shot: Faber could fight for the new Bantamweight Title in the UFC next if he can defeat Mizugaki in impressive enough fashion. If he loses though, he would fall far down the ladder, he would have lost four out of his last six, and questions would begin to rise about if he's begun to decline and fallen behind the sport.

On deck for next week: Next week I'll write about Rampage Jackson as he takes on the former champ Lyoto Machida as both try and work their way back into the light heavyweight picture.

Dan Wyatt is a communications major in college looking at a career in sports radio and sports writing. Outside of sports you can find him doing stand up comedy or acting in the upcoming independent film, Company of the Damned.

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