How many fights does Urijah Faber have left in mixed martial arts (MMA)?
Well, if his next fight is against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, it could be his last. That’s according to Faber’s teammate Cody Garbrandt, who told Submission Radio it’s not too far fetched to see “The California Kid” ride off into the sunset if he scores a victory over his longtime nemesis.
His words (via Bloody Elbow):
“If Urijah would be the champion, I think he would beat Cruz in the next fight. We talked about it before, he’ll go out as champion, retire. Urijah has done so much for the sport and been a world champion, he’s been the featherweight king at the WEC – and people seem to forget Urijah ruled that era for a very long time, fought some of the best fighters. What else would he have to prove? You win the title and go out, storybook ending. Boom, done. If he goes two and one against Cruz, wins a world title, he then goes on and lives his life. He’s the California Kid, he does what he always does. He’s always in the gym. He’s got his other business endeavors. We’ve been talking about it, that would be the perfect storybook ending. We talked about it. I mean, what else does he do? You beat Cruz, who just beat TJ for the title. His fight with Cruz is a storybook ending. He’s had his career, being champion and then fighting back, losing the title, coming back, dropping a weight class, losing a close fight to the champion, another title fight, losing these close title fights and then coming back and then winning the last fight to win the title. That’s the story book ending.”
A trilogy title fight between Cruz and Faber isn’t too far out of the picture, as both men been warm to the idea of settling their business after Cruz defeated T.J. Dillashaw last month to reclaim the 135-pound title.
Faber initially defeated Cruz at WEC 26 back in 2007 to retain his featherweight strap. Four years later, “The Dominator” got his revenge with a unanimous decision win over Faber at UFC 132.
With Urijah currently sitting at No. 3 in the official rankings, and the other two in front of him (Dillashaw and Renan Barao) coming off losses, is the time right for UFC to set up a third and final fight between the longtime rivals?