Urijah Faber – UFC 149 weigh-in photo via Facebook.com/UFC
A previous report had former WEC champ Urijah ‘The California Kid’ Faber (26-6) taking on Vaughan Lee (12-8-1) at the upcoming UFC 156 event. Now Tatame.com.br has Faber meeting Ivan ‘The Pride of El Salvador’ Menjivar (25-9) at the expected February show.
Officials with the promotion appear to have opted for a tougher opponent for Faber after the original opponent in Lee was high criticized as a mismatch in opponents.
UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar is expected to take place on Super-Bowl weekend (Feb. 2, 2013) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Faber enters the match with a 1-2 record having lost two title matches, an interim title bout with Renan Barao and a title fight with division champ Dominick Cruz. The loss to Barao took place this past July at UFC 149 and saw Faber lose by decision. ‘The California Kid’ earned a second round submission win over Brian Bowles at UFC 139 one year ago. The loss in his rematch versus Cruz took place in July 2011 at UFC 132 and saw Faber lose by decision in a “Fight of the Night” match.
Menjivar was in action last month versus newcomer Azamat Gashimov at UFC 154 in Montreal. Menjivar earned a quick submission win, using an armbar to finish things in the first round to earn the victory as well as the “Submission of the Night” bonus. The win put ‘The Pride of El Salvador’ back into the win column following a decision loss to Mike Easton in July at UFC 148. That loss ended a three fight win streak for Menjivar.