Faber responds to claim he has re-retired: ‘Managers are getting desperate these days’

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Urijah Faber has issued a response to Petr Yan’s manager.

Earlier this week, MMA manager Daniel Rubenstein claimed that Urijah Faber had turned down a fight with surging UFC bantamweight Petr Yan and effectively re-retired from the sport.

“Petr’s already accepted a fight vs Faber, but Faber is apparently reretired. If Frankie wants to fight in Vegas Dec 14, would be Petr’s honor to fight a legend like him. Wish @funkmasterMMA a speedy recovery,” Rubenstein, who manages Petr Yan, posted on Tuesday.

Faber, who retired in 2016 only to return to the Octagon earlier this year to beat Ricky Simon in the UFC Fight Night 155 co-main event, soon got wind of Rubenstein’s comments and responded by calling the Ruby Sports and Entertainment owner ‘desperate’.

Interestingly, Faber didn’t deny turning down the Yan fight.

“Managers are getting desperate these days. Get a life Ruby @dannyrube, and count ur lucky stars for Shelby giving u MMA life, he knows perfectly well my situation. Make a call,” Faber posted on Instagram.

Faber, the former WEC featherweight champion, hasn’t expressed any interest in a fight with Yan but would love to beat the ‘cringe’ out of reigning UFC bantamweight and flyweight champ Henry Cejudo.

“Henry Cejudo’s got the world strap, a couple of them, and an Olympic gold medal, which I actually never set my goals on as a young wrestler. I probably should have,” Faber said (h/t Alexander K. Lee of MMA Fighting). “But that’s enticing, to snatch up a couple of belts and a gold medal and silence the cringe, would be a great step in the right direction for me and I think it’s a great matchup.”

Faber, a multiple time bantamweight title challenger, is currently ranked #14 in the UFC’s official 135-pound rankings.