Urijah Faber Returns in November, Still Going Forward with Planned Move to Bantamweight

For perhaps the first time in his career, Urijah Faber is at a crossroads. The man who started his career with an eight-fight win streak and exploded into the mainstream with a thirteen-fight win streak is now 2-3 in his last five fights. It seems that the WEC’s Featherweight division, the division he once ruled with an iron fist, has finally caught up to him. Some fans and industry insiders have even speculated that the Featherweight division has in fact passed Faber by, their chief example being the five-round thrashing he received at the hands (and most notably, the leg kicks) of current WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Like so many other great fighters before him, Faber is hoping that a change in weight divisions will result in a reversal of fortunes and help get him back to his winning ways. After his debut in the WEC’s Bantamweight division was put to a halt due to a knee injury, Faber recently revealed that his return to active competition should be in November of this year, and that he’s ready to remind WEC fans why “The California Kid” became so famous in the first place.

In an interview with Sherdog Radio’s “Savage Dog Show”, Faber had this to say: “I’m back to full-on training now. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to fight in November. I told (WEC officials) I could go in September when I found out I’d be out four to six weeks. I wanted to be on the September 30 card, but I got pushed back to November.” In regards to the injury that forced him to pull out of the recent WEC 50 event, where he was scheduled to make his Bantamweight debut against former WEC Bantamweight Championship contender Takeya Mizugaki, Faber revealed that the injury was only moderately serious and didn’t require any type of surgery.

I think a drop down to Bantamweight is a very smart move for Faber, considering that his misses at 145 have finally begun to catch up to his hits. I think there’s still a home for Faber at 145, just not right now, with Jose Aldo seemingly poised to crush the division beneath his powerful hands and feet. I think the argument can be made that in Faber’s two losses to Mike Thomas Brown, Faber was caught in the first fight (which can happen to anybody) and that Faber’s two serious hand injuries in the second fight ruled out any chance of evening the score to one win apiece. But the fight with Jose Aldo was a one-sided thrashing from start to finish, and the only thing keeping Faber standing after absorbing twenty-five minutes of heinously-powerful leg kicks was Faber’s heart and dedication. But heart and dedication can only get you so far, even if you’re Urijah Faber, and right now, getting out of the WEC 145 scene is a smart move. It may be admitting defeat, but if Faber proves successful at 135, one day he’ll return and be better than ever in the division where he first made his mark.

And I think Faber will be successful at 135, even against some of the WEC’s best Bantamweights. Plus, the dream-fight pitting Faber against fellow fallen-from-grace once-dominant former WEC Champion Miguel Torres has such big money-making potential that the allure of the fight may just be enough to book a Pay-Per-View around. It’s always exciting to see a gifted athlete try and test himself out in a new weight division, and with an athlete as gifted as Urijah Faber, there’s a lot of potentially awesome fights lined up for him when Faber steps back inside the blue cage once again in November.

And what do you think, fans and friends? How excited are you for Urijah Faber dropping down to 135, and how successful do you think he’ll be?