Retirement? What retirement?
When a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter officially retires from cage fighting, it often means “I need a vacation but I’ll be back when I A) run out of money or B) run out of things to do.” Former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) featherweight champion Urijah Faber, however, may be the exception to that rule.
“The California Kid” is not hard up for cash, nor does he need a hobby, thanks to his role at Team Alpha Male (TAM) in Sacramento, Calif. He just loves the thrill of competition and stays in fighting shape regardless of what’s on the horizon.
Which is why he told Submission Radio it only takes one phone call.
“I still get tested from USADA just because I’ve never taken drugs in my life so I don’t really care about that. It’s well worth it. The difference is, if there was a big opportunity and someone wanted you to fight and it sounded like a good idea, I wouldn’t want to wait four months to get cleared when I’m not doing drugs anyway. So I’ll take one for the team on a 6 a.m. wake-up call. I’ve got it down pat anyways. I pretty much sleep through the whole thing aside from when I’m giving the urine sample.”
This guy should try that.
Faber (34-10) turns 39 in May and hasn’t competed since his unanimous decision victory over Brad Pickett at UFC on FOX 22. While the bantamweight title managed to elude him, “The California Kid” is widely-considered the founding father of lighter weight classes and a big reason UFC was willing to dip below 155 pounds back in 2010.
Not sure what opportunities are out there for the aging Californian, especially with this rival already moving on to bigger and better things, but maybe Vitor Belfort was onto something when he called for a “Legends League.”
Or not.