Urijah Faber

Urijah Faber is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter who competed in the Bantamweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Nicknamed “The California Kid”, Faber rose to fame after winning at the WEC Featherweight Championship for the Team Alpha Male Association based in Sacramento, California.

He was born Urijah Christopher Faber on May 14, 1979 in Isla Vista and started to have an interest with the combat sport boxing during his high school years. Faber continued the sport up until he was in the University of California. He worked as a wrestling coach after graduation and started training for the MMA.

Faber’s debut fight was against Jay Valencia at the Gladiator Challenge 20 where he triumphed via submission. He then won the Gladiator Challenge Lightweight Championship in June against David Velasquez. He was hailed as the King of the Cage Bantamweight Champion when he won against Eben Kaneshriro.

Faber won consecutive matches after his debut and was undefeated for two years reigning against George Adkins, Del Hawkins, Rami Boukai, David Granados, and Hiroyuki Abe. His first taste of defeat was against Tyson Griffin at the GC 42 Summer Slam in 2005.

He started another undefeated run from 2005 to 2008 winning in 12 consecutive fights, with most of his wins at the WEC. He won against Joe Pearson, Dominick Cruz, Chance Farrar, Jeff Curran, and Jens Pulver. He later on challenged Mike Brown in June 2009 to reclaim the WEC Featherweight Championship title - however, he faced another defeat from Brown.

Faber won his second WEC Submission of the Night Honors via a match against Jiu-Jitsu black belter Raphael Assuncao. Faber’s last fight was with Brad Pickett on the 17th of December, 2016 where he won via unanimous decision. He has a total of 44 fights with 34 wins and 10 losses, two of which was inflicted by Mike Brown.