Issue 038

March 2008

WEC featherweight champion, Urijah Faber is without doubt one of the world’s most exciting and dynamic fighters. With a record of 20-1 and a seemingly irrepressible urge to take the fight to his opposition, it’s clear to see why many observers see him as the guiding light in an action-packed division.

Unsurprisingly the ‘The California Kid’ oozes confidence from every pore as he considers his maturing abilities. “I think I’m at the top of the weight class, I don’t think there’s anyone out there that can beat me up, so I’ve got to say that I’m number one.”

After an early career that saw him taste success in Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage, Faber has since graduated and been granted the opportunity to demonstrate his sublime skills in the WEC. Seizing the opportunity with both hands, Faber snatched the WEC title in impressive fashion and has since defended it on four occasions, most recently coming through some testing moments to submit the highly touted challenger, Jeff Curran.

Incredibly, Faber appeared completely at ease in the bout, despite finding himself tied up in some horrendous positions for much of the opening round. “I’ve had Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions on my back and they’ve never given me too much trouble from there – it’s not the best situation, obviously, in a fight, but I wasn’t getting punished and I wasn’t in danger of getting choked, so I felt pretty good.”

During the classic bout, Faber demonstrated an amazing ability to react to the opportunities that presented themselves – and at one stage held Curran in a bizarre triangle that included one of his opponent’s legs as well as the standard head and arm. Able to hammer a series of vicious elbows into Curran’s head from the position, the young champion explained the development of his unorthodox style.

“I scramble a lot in my fighting and in my training. I do about an hour of technique and scrambling to start the day off in the morning. I get in a lot of different positions and I like to find myself where I can punish [my opponent]. I practise a lot of stuff that I may never see again, so, I like to fight on the spur of the moment and get a feel for all different aspects of the game so I get some creative stuff in there.”

Faber’s determination to show the crowd something a little bit different brought an incredible finish to the contest – one that we will be watching on highlight reels for some time to come. In the clinch, Curran attempted to scoop up the champion’s leg and put him on the floor. Not content simply defending with the balance of a gymnast, Faber leapt off his stabilising leg to bang home a hard, virtually contest-winning knee to his opponent’s head, sending him crashing to the ground and in no position to defend the ensuing guillotine choke. “I feel I’ve come to the point in my game now where I can do just about anything that I want and not really worry about getting in danger,” he said, looking back on one of the 2007’s most memorable finishes. “It’s a good feeling man, I’ve come a long way and I’m always real aggressive and so being able to let it all hang out is real nice for me.” 

Moving into 2008, Faber is the man on top of the featherweight mountain and is all too aware that he has the world’s best fighters gunning for his title, a situation that doesn’t bother him in the slightest. One of the strongest challengers to his throne is former UFC lightweight champion, Jens Pulver, a contest which is now heavily rumoured to take place in March.

Pulver recently made the return to featherweight and hopes to carry with him a wealth of big fight experience and a power punch that has obliterated numerous opponents. The 145lb weight class certainly seems far more suited to the Miletich-trained fighter, who recently put in a fantastically composed performance as he breezed to 35-second submission victory over Cub Swanson in his WEC debut, putting himself in line for a shot at the English-speaking world’s most prestigious featherweight title in the process.

Faber, however, showed no signs of nerves as he looked forward to a match up with such a tough opponent, giving his view on the next challenger for his title. “Jens is a very, very dangerous fighter,” he pointed out with an air of deep respect. “[He is] probably one of the most dangerous, well rounded fighters. He’s got some size on me, so he’s definitely going to be a very game competitor. I feel that he has ways to finish the fight, but my job is to come out unscathed and that’s what we’re trying to do. He’s coming down to my weight, so has to be looking out for me.”

“We’re gonna fight and it’s going to be brutal,” he continued. “I wouldn’t say necessarily that he’s going to give me problems. I think we are going to fight and there’s going to be a lot of good action, but I feel like I’m going to come out on top.”

Without looking past this formidable opponent, Faber also has his sights set on a fighter considered by many observers to be head and shoulders above the rest, the gifted wrestler and kickboxer, Kid Yamamoto. To this point, Yamamoto has conducted almost his entire career in Japan, the Mecca of the lighter weight divisions, and therefore does not carry the same level of name value in the United States as Pulver. However, Kid remains the man to beat in the eyes of many observers.

“I’d like to fight Kid Yamamoto just for the fact that a lot of people consider him to be the best 145 pounder in the world. I’m here, on earth, to prove that I’m the baddest dude on the planet at that weight and that’s one guy that I think would help me prove my point.”

Another point that the Californian has to prove surrounds his fight with lightweight contender, Ivan Menjivar - a bout which took place back in early 2006. In an exciting war, the Canadian did what few fighters have proven capable of as he gave Faber a genuine run for his money before handing him victory in perhaps the least satisfying way possible; by disqualification due to a vicious illegal kick to Faber’s face as he struggled to regain his feet.

“It was a very even fight,” Faber recalled. “I feel that I won the first round and it was about a minute and a half, two minutes into the second, we got into an exchange and he actually got my back standing.”

Able to wriggle free from his opponents clutches, things were about to get worse for the rugged Californian, “I banged heads with him and then he kicked me in the face and somewhere in there I got cut, the last thing that happened was the illegal kick, it had to be stopped because it was right on the eye. It’s unfortunate, we were having a great fight at that point and that’s someone I’d definitely like to fight again.”

With several years of competition still ahead of him, the possibilities for the 27-year old’s career are endless, especially due to rapidly growing interest in the lighter divisions in the United States. While he doesn’t expect to see the UFC crowning a featherweight champion in the next couple of years, the tough scrapper is more than comfortable at home in the WEC and sees a bright future for himself as one of the organisation’s most valued stars.

“The WEC is hands down the best organisation in the world, I think they have such a large number of talented lighter weight fighters, I think lighter weight fighters are the most explosive and entertaining in the world. I think it’s a matter of time before the WEC starts to take over and I’m really happy to be a part of it. It’s been a great career so far and I’m looking forward to having an even better one in the future.”

In typically confident style, Faber issued a friendly yet potentially hazardous challenge to any featherweight able to earn the dubious honour of stepping into the cage to contest his championship belt. “I’m taking on all-comers, so if you think you’re the baddest dude in the world at 145lbs and you can convince other people of it, let’s make the fight happen. I enjoy fighting game opponents and I look forward to fighting in the future. Come and get me, I’ve got the belt.”