The biggest name to emerge from the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, Urijah “The California Kid” Faber (24-4), will make his UFC debut in March to face another tough opponent in Eddie Wineland. Both men will co-main event the upcoming UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans event in Newark, New Jersey on March 19 at the Prudential Center.
Faber made a name for himself as the WEC featherweight champ, he was dethroned in 2008 by Mike Brown and has come back twice to fight for the title. Each time he would lose, first in a rematch with Brown and then at the hands of current UFC featherweight title holder José Aldo.
After the loss to Aldo “The California Kid” dropped from 145 lbs to 135 lbs, fighting for the first time as a bantamweight in years. He made the most of it by earning a quick submission win over Takeya Mizugaki in November in the headliner for WEC 52.
Speaking to BloodyElbow.com, Faber tells them that he feels great in the new weight class and says his quick victory over Mizugaki “made a big statement” to everyone else in the 135 lbs division.
“I felt great man. I didn’t feel that good when I actually made the weight but when it was time to compete I felt incredible. I was light and felt strong. I had to do a lot of running and keep a very strict diet to make it and when it was time to go I felt incredible.”
“I think it made a big statement. If you watch the fight and take a look at the punch stats I was landing all the shots and hardly got hit with anything. I was mixing it up and felt good with my footwork and speed. He’s had a lot of tough fights with really tough guys. Mizugaki had a war with Miguel Torres that could have gone either way. Rani Yahya & Jeff Curran…he had knock down drag-out fights with those guys and it felt good to finish him in the first round. My goal was to make a statement and to let everyone know I’m on a different level.”