Given Urijah Faber’s history with Dominick Cruz, you would think that he would be hellbent on waiting to fight his rival and avenge his defeat. Faber would probably have that option if he beats Renan Barao in an interim bantamweight championship match at UFC 149. But Faber’s not interested in putting his career on ice to make that happen.
Interestingly, Barao is taking the direct opposite approach. It’s the Brazilian who says that if he wins, he’ll wait until Cruz returns from a knee injury in order to fight him in a bout that determine supremacy in the weight class.
“I think I would want to want to wait to fight Domnick Cruz,” he said. “That’s a fight that I would really want. And I would want to convert my interim title into a definitive title for the weight class.”
That all probably will depend on just how long Cruz needs to rehab and recover. There’s no definitive timetable on his return just yet, but he could be out for up to one year.
Barao was selected to take his place in the main event matchup, and he’s the one who says he’s wait for the champ.
But Faber? He has no interest in playing the waiting game.
The two have fought twice in the past. Faber landed Cruz his one and only loss back in 2007 when the pair where both in the WEC and fighting as featherweights. Faber won by guillotine choke. Cruz avenged the defeat at UFC 132 in July 2011, winning in a unanimous decision.
UFC 149 was supposed to mark the rubber match of the series, but it won’t happen, and if Faber takes the interim belt, he’s not promising to wait and ensure the final fight happens at all.
“I’m not waiting for Dominick in any way, shape, or form,” he said. “It makes sense for Carlos Condit to wait around for Georges St-Pierre. It’s a huge fight for him, but for me, of course, everyone wants to see the fight with Dominick and I, but I’m not going to put my life on hold because of his injuries. Fighting’s what I do, it’s how I make my living, it’s what I love to do, and I’ll be fighting whenever they give me the opportunity.”