Urijah Faber (23-4) will drop to 135 pounds for the first time in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion to face Japanese fighter Takeya Mizugaki. They’ll headline the upcoming WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki show on Nov. 11th in Las Vegas.
Faber is a former WEC featherweight champion, and after suffering his most recent loss to 145 lbs champ Jose Aldo makes his move to bantamweight. In a recent interview with USAToday.com, “The California Kid” explains why he wanted to make the drop in weight and why it will be easy for him to make that weight on Nov. 11th.
When I first started fighting seven years ago, California hadn’t legalized MMA. It wasn’t on TV. There wasn’t much going on with the sport, and I was actually 133-pound wrestler in college and was walking around at 148. I fought my first (MMA bout) at ‘55.
I told them for a long time that I wanted to go down to ‘35, but I was world champion at 145. And then I also was one of the top contenders when I didn’t have the belt, so my plan was to basically get the belt (back) at 145, and then go down to 135.
I’m getting down to 140 today. I weigh 143 and a half as we’re talking. I feel incredible at this weight.
The last seven years for me have been a real hassle trying to put weight on. My body likes to stay at 154 to 158. One fifty-two to 155 is where I usually walk around. I know guys like Aldo, they’re around 168. Mike Brown about 165, 168. Gamburyan about 165.
I did this cut for five years in college and I haven’t grown any, unfortunately. I wish I was a little bit taller, (but) I’m pretty much the same size that I’ve always been. It’s just that instead of trying to gain weight, I’m trying to lose weight.
Be sure to check out the entire interview as Faber discusses how the fight with Mizugaki will go down, fighting teammates, mma fans in America, who he’d like to fight, plus a lot more. Visit USAToday.com for the interview.