Fighter Profile: Urijah Faber

Name: Urijah “The California Kid” Faber

Record: 23-5

Current Organization: WEC

Weight: 145 pounds (Featherweight)

Birth Date: 05-14-1979

Urijah Faber is the face of the WEC and one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Most fans give him a higher ranking than the current WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown.

Urijah Faber had his first professional fight in late 2003 with Gladiator Challenge. He went 4-0 before going to King of the Cage in 2004. He won both fights in KOTC. He returned to Gladiator Challenge for a win over David Granados He returned to KOTC to stop Hiroyuki Abe in the third. With his record at 8-0 Urijah gets the first defeat of his career at GC 42 against now UFC star Tyson Griffin. He won’t lose for another three and a half years.

Urijah Faber would smash through the WEC eventually wining the WEC Featherweight Title. Defending it against the likes of Jens Pulver and Chance Farrar. On November 5th Mike Brown did the impossible by dethroning Urijah Faber from atop the Featherweight division in just two and a half minutes. That didn’t give the California Kid a moment’s pause as two months later he stepped in the cage against his rival Jens Pulver for a second time, securing the submission victory in 94 seconds.

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Faber once again faced Brown as the two met for the WEC Featherweight Title at WEC 41: Faber vs. Brown 2 on June 7, 2009. Faber suffered a broken hand early in the bout and injured the other hand as well leaving him very limited in striking and grappling as Brown took a Unanimous Decision victory after the 5 round were complete.

Faber, eager to return to action, underwent surgery and returned to the cage in January 2010 at WEC 46 in his hometown Sacramento, California, facing Raphael Assuncao in the WEC Featherweight division's #1 contender's bout. Faber was winning the fight when he landed a rear naked choke in the 3rd round to earn another title shot, this time against Champion Jose Aldo.

With the WEC's historic success in Faber's hometown of Sacramento, the organization decided to make a monumental decision as they chose to have their first-ever Pay Per View event live from Sacramento on April 24, 2010. Using the WEC: Aldo vs Faber title for their WEC 48 event, the UFC followed in supporting their sister company's event using Faber to market the event as much as possible. In the Aldo vs. Faber main event fight, Urijah Faber was able to avoid Jose Aldo's big right hand, but Aldo's vicious kicks did severe damage to Faber's leg as Aldo retained his title with a unanimous decision victory.

Recent Urijah Faber MMA News & Results:

• Defeated Raphael Assuncao via Submission at WEC 46 on January 10, 2010 in Sacremento, CA - WEC 46 results

• Lost to Jose Aldo for the WEC Featherweight title by Unanimous Decision at WEC 48 on April 24, 2010 - WEC 48 results

By David Nordhal
Updated April 2010

Photo courtesy of UFC & WEC