Urijah Faber

MMAstatsbox|name=Urijah Faber

---

nick=California Kid
height=5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
weight=145 lb (65 3/4 kg)
birthdate=birth date and age|year=1979|month=5|day=14
died=
fightingfrom=Sacramento, California
hometown=Isla Vista, California
fightteam=Capital City Fighting Alliance [ [http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?search=yes&Association=Capital+City+Fighting+Alliance Fight Finder - Mixed Martial Arts Statistics ] ]
fightstyle=Collegiate Wrestling
wins=21
losses=1
draws=0
ko=7
submissions=10
decisions=3
other=1
nocontest=0|

Urijah Christopher Faber (born May 14 , 1979 in Isla Vista, California) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the World Extreme Cagefighting organization, where he is the WEC World Featherweight champion. All major MMA ranking agencies list Faber as the number-one Featherweight fighter in the World.

Biography

Faber was born May 14, 1979, in the college town of Isla Vista, California, a small community bordering the University of California-Santa Barbara, and raised in Sacramento. Faber was born at home with the help of a midwife and raised holistically, his parents refusing to give him immunization shots. To this day Faber has scarcely used conventional medicine and has maintained a lifestyle of healthy dieting and exercise habits. [ [http://www.tbo.com/sports/MGBL2O1KF2F.html 7 Things You Need To Know About Urijah Faber ] ] Faber attended high school in Lincoln, a town of about 40,000 people.

Athletics have been a part of Faber's life since an early age, where he spent much of his childhood and teen years participating in football, roller hockey, and wrestling. After a successful high school career as a wrestler in Lincoln, California, Faber continued his wrestling along with his academics at the University of California-Davis. [http://www.urijahfaber.com/bio.htm Urijah Faber - The California kid ] ]

Although he did not enter college on a scholarship, he was awarded one after his freshman year on the wrestling team. His sophomore year, he was the starting 133-lbs wrestler for UC-Davis, a spot that remained his for the rest of his collegiate career. While wrestling in college, Faber became the all-time win leader for UC-Davis and a two-time NCAA Division I qualifier, finishing in the top 12 in 2002. [ [http://www.ultimatefitness.pro/ Utlimate Fitness ] ] In freestyle wrestling, Faber competed in the University Nationals where he was a national runner-up, becoming the true alternate for the University Nationals World Team. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development, Faber stayed on staff at UC Davis as the lightweight wrestling coach and began his MMA career.

Faber had one dangerous encounter outside of the cage. In a 2005 interview, he told of a then-recent visit to Bali where he became embroiled in a club brawl that got wildly out of hand. It required all his MMA skills and poise to fight a reported 10-12 assailants and escape with his life. He was hit with brass knuckles and bloodied. He flipped several assailants and managed to punch several others. However he spent most of his time trying to run away because they were trying to kill him. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOQLg7Kc8So] [http://www.tbo.com/sports/MGBL2O1KF2F.html]

Mixed martial arts

Faber is currently working with Andy Kay, a Muay Thai specialist from Thailand, and Joe Urias, a California native specializing in boxing, and continues to study under Cassio Werneck. Faber has also trained with UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn.

Faber made his professional MMA debut as part of the Gladiator Challenge promotion on November 12, 2003, defeating Jay Valencia by guillotine choke at 1:22 of round 1. Faber then defeated George Adkins by TKO(strikes) on February 12, 2004, earning a shot at GC Bantamweight champion David Velasquez. On June 6, 2004, Faber defeated Velasquez by unanimous decision, becoming the new GC Bantamweight champion. In his first title defense, Faber defeated Del Hawkins by TKO(strikes) at 3:19 of the first round on August 19, 2004. After this fight, Faber began to take fights in both GC and King of the Cage, GC's parent promotion.

Upon moving to KOTC, Faber defeated Rami Boukai by majority decision on September 24, 2004, barely a month after his last fight. On November 14, 2004, Faber defeated Eben Kaneshiro by submission(strikes) to win the KOTC Bantamweight championship, co-holding it with the GC Bantamweight title.

On March 13, 2005, Faber made his return to GC, defeating David Granados by rear naked choke at 2:13 of round 1. On May 7, 2005, he defended his KOTC belt for the first time, defeating Hiroyuki Abe by TKO(cut) at 2:37 of the third round. Returning to GC on September 10, 2005, Faber had his first defeat, losing the GC Bantamweight championship to Tyson Griffin by TKO(strikes) at :05 seconds of round 3.

On October 29, 2005, Faber defended his KOTC title again, defeating Shawn Bias by guillotine choke at 1:24 of the first round. He returned to GC on December 11, 2005, defeating Charles Bennett by rear naked choke at 4:38 of round 1. Faber then fought at a TKO Major League MMA event on January 8, 2006, facing Ivan Menjivar. Faber won by disqualification at 2:02 of the second round when Menjivar landed an illegal kick to a downed Faber.

On March 17, 2006, Faber competed for the first time in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, defeating Cole Escovedo by TKO(corner stoppage) after the end of the second round to win the WEC featherweight championship.

On May 13, 2006, Faber defended his KOTC Bantamweight title for the third time, defeating Charlie Valencia by rear naked choke in the first round(exact time is unknown). Faber then returned to GC July 1, 2006 and defeated Naoya Uematsu by TKO(strikes) at 3:35 of round 2 to reclaim the GC Bantamweight championship, thus holding three titles at once. Faber then took a fight in the Full Contact Promotions organization on September 9, 2006, defeating Enoch Wilson by TKO(strikes) at 1:01 of the second round. On October 28, Faber returned to KOTC and defended his title for the fourth and last time, defeating Bibiano Fernandes by TKO(cut) at 4:16 of round 1. Faber later vacated his KOTC and GC titles upon signing a contract with the WEC after it was purchased by Zuffa in December 2006.

At on January 20, 2007, Faber defended his WEC Featherweight title for the first time since winning it ten months prior, defeating Joe Pearson by submission(strikes) at 2:31 of the first round. At on March 24, 2007, he successfully defended his title for a second time by defeating Dominic Cruz by guillotine choke at 1:38 of round 1.

At on June 3, 2007, Faber defeated Chance Farrar by rear naked choke at 3:19 of the first round. In his postfight interview, Faber called out K-1 HERO'S 2005 middleweight (154 lb) tournament champion Norifumi Yamamoto, though this fight has yet to take place. After this match, Faber took a six month break between fights, the longest of his career. He came back at on December 12, 2007, defeating Jeff Curran by guillotine choke at 4:34 of the second round. Also on this card was the WEC debut of Jens Pulver, who was moving back down to featherweight from lightweight. Pulver and Faber both commented in their postfight interviews that they wanted to fight each other, and the match was signed for June 1, 2008 at . Faber and Pulver fought a constant back-and-forth battle, but neither man was able to finish the other and the fight went the full five rounds, the first time in Faber's WEC career that one of his fights had gone the distance. The judges scored the bout a unanimous decision for Faber, 50-45, 50-44 and 50-44. This fight also marked both the first time that one of Pulver's fights at featherweight had gone to decision, and the first time Pulver had been defeated at that weight class.

Faber was next scheduled to fight Mike Brown at WEC 36 on September 10, 2008 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. However, this fight was postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Ike and was rescheduled for November 5, 2008 at the same location.

MMA record

MMArecordbox
wins=21
losses=1
ko-wins=7
ko-losses=1
sub-wins=10
sub-losses=0
dec-wins=4

References

External links

* [http://www.wec.tv/index.cfm?fa=fighter.detail&pid=539 WEC profile]
*Sherdog|id=8847|name=Urijah Faber