Urijah Faber last stepped in the Octagon in July, which means he’s had ample opportunities to start new businesses.
Faber is a prolific businessman. He owns a gym, is a partial owner in his management company and owns a construction firm in Sacramento. Recently, he has become an investor in MemoryTag, a device that allows users to add personalized videos to greeting cards and other places. Just use your phone and scan a QR card, and your video plays.
Faber is also an investor in a new concept for specialty dental care. They’re hoping to branch out across the country. And he’s playing a small role in the ownership group that is attempting to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Sacramento. Faber loves Sacramento, and he is constantly looking for things to help build it. When the city nearly lost the Kings, Faber realized the loss would’ve left a major hole in the city’s culture.
“What that would have meant is a lot less to cheer for, which I don’t like. MLS means more to cheer for. That’s why I got behind it,” Faber said during a Tuesday phone interview.
Faber’s first love, of course, is still mixed martial arts. He still owns Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness, the home of UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. Things have changed over the past year at Ultimate Fitness, for Faber and others. Gone is Duane Ludwig, the renowned striking coach who guided Dillashaw to Team Alpha Male’s first title belt. In his place is Martin Kampmann, the former UFC veteran who, according to Faber, fits the team’s ethos like a glove.
“First off, he’s a great guy. He’s got a really cool family. He understands the big picture of working for the team,” Faber said.
This may or not be a shot at Ludwig, who has since moved to Colorado and is in the process of opening his own gym. Things between Faber and Ludwig are icy, but Ludwig is still involved with many of Team Alpha Male’s fighters. He still serves as Dillashaw‘s main coach. He guided Chad Mendes to his recent title fight against Jose Aldo, and he’ll be in the corner of Joseph Benavidez this weekend in Austin.
Faber will step in the Octagon in a few weeks when he faces Cisco Rivera at UFC 181. Surprisingly, he is once again on the preliminary card, bolstering a Fox Sports 1 card that is designed to entice viewers at home to buy the pay-per-view. Rivera is Faber’s second straight curious opponent in a row; he is ranked 11th in the division and seemingly out of Faber’s league in both fighting and marketability.
But Faber said he’s never picked his opponents.
“First off, I’ve never turned down a fight. They tell me who I fight. We don’t have a discussion about it. They say who I am fighting, and I accept,” he said.
And Faber believes Rivera, like other competitors in his division, has plenty to offer.
“I take all of these guys really seriously. If he’s in the UFC, and has been knocking guys out, I take that seriously,” he said. “I know for a fact he’s got some danger. I know he is a peer. And so I think it’s an exciting fight.”
A name Faber will always be associated with is Dominick Cruz, who returned from years on the shelf with a dominant knockout win over Takeya Mizugaki. Despite their history of bad blood, Faber said that he was impressed with Cruz’s performance and that the former bantamweight champion showed something he’s lacked for most of his career: a killer instinct.
“He looked good. It’s the first time we’ve seen him go for the kill. I think that’s one of the things that has been missing from his game, the urgency to finish a fight,” Faber said. “It might have been the emotions. He was like a chained-up animal that was finally unleashed.
“I hope he keeps those emotions just long enough to get knocked out by T.J. Dillashaw.”
Cruz and Dillashaw will meet on an undetermined date in the future. Faber has split wins with Cruz, and he would like to face his nemesis at some point in the future. It is not something that has to happen for Faber to feel complete; he does not feel like he has unfinished business with anyone. But still, he wants the fight.
“I’m not a guy that feels like I have anything to do, but of course I’d like to fight him,” he said. “If I’m going to be fighting, that fight needs to happen.”
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