Issue 109

December 2013

Written off by many in 2012, Urijah Faber has a 3-0 win streak since his Octagon return this year. ‘The California Kid’ explains how a desire to prove his doubters wrong drove him to become a better fighter

As he sits back in his black reclining chair, hands cradling his long sun-bleached locks and with his feet up on the desk of the spacious Team Alpha Male office, Urijah Faber has a brief reflective moment. Right now, at the age of 34, his career is possibly at an all-time high. He’s once again near the top of the bantamweight division and edging closer to another tilt at a UFC title he so badly desires, while his plethora of businesses continue to expand at a fearsome pace. In other words, ‘The California Kid’ is truly living the Californian dream. 

But as successful as 2013 has been for Faber, 2012 was a totally different story. Not only did he spend the majority of it on the sidelines, but after years of success in whatever promotion he fought in, Faber stopped looking like the man we all knew and loved: the scrappy wrestler who dominated opponents from the beginning to the end of a fight.

In fact, when he fought and lost to current interim UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao at UFC 149 it quickly became the worst year of Faber’s illustrious career so far. 

“I had it pretty rough in 2012. Not only was it pretty rough for me in terms of being a fighter, but my parents were also having some troubles. There were all sorts of things going on,” Faber admits in an exclusive tell-all interview with Fighters Only. “Also, I only had one fight and it was against a guy who is a really good fighter. He was the better man that night. 

“The rest of the year was spent filming The Ultimate Fighter which took up about four months of my life. Then I had the championship bout that I lost and I actually broke my rib in the first round of that fight, so I ended up spending four months recovering from that.”

He adds: “It was a slow year but opportunities came in 2013 and I’ve taken them and made sure to capitalize on them. I’ve really had to stand steady and remember that hard work and a positive attitude always endures.”

And it was during those 12 barren months that some people began to ask some serious questions about Faber: Had the sport passed him by? Was he past his peak? Had the ‘California Kid’ slowly and unwittingly become the one thing all fighters fear – a divisional gatekeeper? 

But while the critics mulled over his future, or apparent lack of it, Faber was back home in Sacramento, healing and putting all the pieces together to make sure his return to the Octagon not only silenced those who’d doubted him during his absence, but also showed that he’d become a much improved mixed martial artist.

Now following three successive wins, and with a possible fourth on the way against Michael McDonald at UFC on Fox: Pettis vs. Thomson in December, he once again appears on the path to becoming the latest member of the WEC alumni to earn gold in the UFC. Although some doubted the impact WEC fighters would make on the UFC’s rosters, according to Faber, the success his fellow comrades have obtained since they slowly merged into the UFC is of no surprise.

“The camaraderie was really cool within the ranks of the WEC,” he explains. “I feel like a lot of the guys there were the best fighters in the world and they all knew it, but they were still in the shadows of fighters in the UFC. Now these guys are champions or have been champions in the UFC and have proved a lot of people wrong.

“You’ve got the likes of Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, Chad Mendes, Joseph Benavidez, Dominick Cruz, Renan Barao, Chael Sonnen and Carlos Condit – the list is nearly endless. And in our hearts I think we knew we were some of the best fighters in the world. To have that time when we weren’t really getting the recognition we deserved, a real camaraderie sprung up from that.”

Two of those names he mentions in his list of former WEC brothers in arms are two of his current teammates at Team Alpha Male, and have been since the gym’s inception. And like Faber, both Chad Mendes and Joseph Benavidez also experienced disappointment in 2012, with Mendes losing in a title fight against featherweight champion José Aldo at UFC 142, and Benavidez tasting defeat in a close battle against Demetrious Johnson in the UFC’s inaugural flyweight title bout.

However, like Faber, they too have bounced back from those disappointing losses with a combined seven victories. Throw in wins for Danny Castillo and TJ Dillashaw and, until very recently, the fighters of Team Alpha Male were unbeaten this year in the UFC, a statistic that makes Faber flash his famous grin.

“It’s really satisfying for me to see Team Alpha Male on this streak,” he says, “because I don’t think a lot of people understand what goes in to building a team. And I think that probably not a lot of the guys on the team understand what it takes unless they really sit back and think about it.

“It takes a lot of being selfless; you need to invest a lot of time, money and energy to make something like creating your own fight team work. It’s been a fun process but it has been a tough process. I’ve put so much into this team and to see it have the success that it’s having now definitely gives me a strong sense of pride.”

As much as Team Alpha Male is a base for Faber and his teammates to continue to prove that iron really does sharpen iron, it’s also one of the many businesses Faber is involved in. From being in the house renovating business with his dad, along with teammate Chad Mendes’ father, to owning one of the biggest MMA clothing companies in the sport in Torque, Faber is clearly cut from the entrepreneurial cloth.

“I’ve really been focusing on Torque Sports and Performance, my gym and my team as of late,” he explains. “They’ve all been going incredibly well. I’ve been staying busy and continuing to work on the businesses that I have now. I’ve also been working on my art company called Optical Panacea; that’s a really cool photography project I’ve got going with my partner Sam Hon.

“I’ve always been quite into art, and I like to be creative which I showcase through my fighting. It’s a pretty cool thing because I feel as if I’ve got a very artistic mind compared to anything else.” As the team leader, it makes sense that Faber feels responsible for sharing his business knowledge with some of the younger, less experienced members of the team. Not only is he there to help them learn how to fight so they can help him and help themselves prepare for battle, he’s also there to try and make sure they don’t suffer the same financial problems so many other elite athletes have faced.

“I make sure with our team that we have discussions about things, like how they deal with finances and taxes,” he explains. “A lot of successful athletes end up broke after their careers are over and it’s really sad. I want to make sure my guys understand how to be intelligent and make good decisions.

“I try and give them some options and let them know that there are smart ways to do things and there are dumb ways to do things. I try and direct them towards doing the smarter things.”

With the team flourishing under head coach Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, and with a whole new generation chomping at the bit to learn from Faber and the original members of Team Alpha Male, it’s not surprising that Faber, ever the opportunist, has considered turning his gym into a franchise business he can sell right across America and then the world – although not quite yet.

He explains: “I’d love to create a franchise, but I’m not willing to just give a franchise to anyone. Right now we have a team of guys who have been putting in a lot of hard work and we’re still a young team. When these guys start to move into the next stage of their career I’d like to see them start to open their own gyms and continue to build the team in other places.

“We have guys from all over the US and all over the world that are coming through. Justin Buchholz, who is not only an amazing fighter but an amazing coach as well, I’d like to see him at some point have a gym and create a continuation of our team. 

“I’d like to see TJ Dillashaw have a team somewhere, while Joseph Benavidez could have a team out in New Mexico. I think branching out will happen eventually, but right now we’re all focusing on being world champions.”

And being a world champion is the top priority on a list of goals Faber keeps in his bedroom. That’s why he’s maintaining such a keen eye on everything that’s been happening of late in the UFC’s bantamweight division. 

Current UFC champion, and Faber’s arch nemesis, Dominick Cruz hasn’t defended his title in two years due to two devastating back-to-back ACL injuries. In his absence, an interim champion emerged in Nova Uniao bantamweight Renan Barao, a man who is undefeated in 30 fights and has beaten the likes of Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland and Faber himself. 

As he’s battled both Cruz and Barao in recent times, many might think Faber is in the best position to say which of the two will be crowned champion when they eventually meet – but like the rest of us Faber isn’t too sure himself.

“It’s a hard question because they’re both really good fighters and very talented in their own ways,” he states. “I do feel as if Barao is definitely the more dangerous opponent, but it’s really going to come down to who is the stronger.

“Is Dominick going to be able to be elusive enough and do enough damage to Barao? Barao is a very hard guy to inflict damage on. I caught him with some good little punches and he didn’t really budge much. “I think Barao is really big for the weight class and does a good job of slowing the fight down to his pace. It’s going to be a close fight, it’s definitely up in the air. If it goes to a finish it’s going to be Barao, because it would more likely be a ground fight. If it goes to decision I’m going to give the edge to Cruz.”

Even though the prospect of the two clashing in the Octagon is a mouthwatering prospect, to say the least, there’s still a chance Cruz won’t be fit enough to fight until the spring of 2014, by which time he might have been stripped of his belt. And it’s a possibility that has split the MMA world right down the middle.

Faber explains: “I’ve got mixed feelings on the UFC stripping Cruz of the title. I feel like it doesn’t really matter because if he’s going to come back he’s going to have to fight a bunch of new guys anyway. Financially it would be better for him if he keeps the belt. It doesn’t make sense to have him fight anyone who isn’t a top-tier opponent. The issue is that because he’s been out for so long there’s been a rise of top-tier opponents he hasn’t fought yet. He’d need to fight one of those guys to see where he stands.

“In the past I’ve been adamant that the UFC shouldn’t strip Cruz of the title but now I’m kind of indifferent. It would be nice for him to keep the title in a financial sense but there are a lot of tests out there for him.”

And when the prospect of Faber meeting either Cruz or Barao for the UFC bantamweight title at some point in the future is mentioned, he surprisingly reveals he’s more interested in cementing a legend for himself by taking on only the biggest fights he can – whether they’re for championship belts or not. 

“I want to take the fights that matter. I want to be involved in the fights that people remember, the fights everyone remembers,” he says excitedly, making hand gestures to emphasize his point. “I want to look back on my fights and be proud of the fights I’ve had. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud of the fights that I’ve been a part of, but there’s a lot to be gained, win, lose or draw, from these huge fights.

“Fighting guys who have legendary status would be pretty cool and I want to make those fights for all the MMA fans that want to see them.”

But before he can seriously start thinking about being involved in any superfights, he first has the unenviable task of facing the young but very dangerous Michael McDonald on December 14th in his hometown of Sacramento. At only 22 years of age, McDonald has impressed many people in the MMA world including Faber who first watched the youngster in his debut fight. But as impressed as Faber is, he still feels the fight can only go one way.

“I knew his older brother, Justin Smitley, and I watched him fight back in Stockton on a small card,” he says. “He’s always been a really nice and talented kid and I’ve been able to see his career from the bottom to where it is now. I like fights like this because even though not everybody knows who he is yet, he’s incredibly dangerous and I need that edge of danger to bring out the best in me and you’re definitely going to see it come December.”

He adds: “I feel like I’m the strongest fighter out there mentally, and in the bantamweight division for sure. When the going gets tough there is zero break in me, and so I’m not going to make a mistake because I’m fatigued. I’m not going to lose steam and I think you saw him lose steam when he fought Renan Barao. That won’t happen to me.”

Faber on superfights

Frankie Edgar

“The reason why I’m so interested in this fight is the fact that Frankie is an absolute savage. In my opinion he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and I feel like I’m a guy who is in the same boat. There’s a 135lb title that I’m shooting for and that would make me a two-division champion. Frankie’s a legendary fighter who is about my size, maybe 10lb heavier, but same proximity at least.”

‘Kid’ Yamamoto

“That fight would’ve really been awesome, sadly it kind of went by the wayside. People don’t realize how great ‘Kid’ Yamamoto was back in the day. I would’ve been a huge underdog to him. He’s an accomplished fighter and that would’ve been an awesome fight, but at this point that ship has pretty much sailed.”

BJ Penn

“That fight doesn’t necessarily interest me, although it would be a great fight. I’m actually buddies with BJ. I’ve been out and stayed with him in Hawaii and it’s not exactly a fight that I’m dying to do, and I don’t think he would be either. However, who knows? You never truly know in this sport.”

Dominick Cruz

“I think it’s going to happen and I’m excited for it. I’m not tired of people talking about anything, I enjoy people talking about me. Good, bad or whatever they want to say. That’s a fight people are going to be talking about until it happens so I’m excited about that one.”