Japanese bantamweight fighter Takeya Mizugaki (13-4-2) is looking for his chance to vie for a title once again and is looking at opponent Urijah Faber as a big step in that direction.
Both men were to have met last August on the WEC 52 card but Faber was forced off the card due to an injury, eventually both men settled on the November date for the fight.
Mizugaki could have faced another opponent instead of waiting for “The California Kid” but the Japanese fighter didn’t want to waste this opportunity to improve his position within the division.
“When the fight in August was cancelled, I lost this ‘tension’ for the fight, so I didn’t want to fight the other fighter. Then we talked about the possibility of September, but when I found out it’s not going to be in September, I did think (about fighting someone else) for a while, but I decided to wait for the opportunity to fight Urijah…“I know a win over a big name fighter like Urijah would get me a step closer to the title shot, and of course, one more time, I want to challenge for that title.”
Mizugaki faced Miguel Torres in April of last year at WEC 40 for the WEC bantamweight title and lost the bout by unanimous decision.
WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki is set for this Thursday, Nov. 11th, at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main card will be shown live on the Versus network.
HT: MMAWeekly.com