Urijah Faber – UFC 149 weigh-in photo via Facebook.com/UFC
Former UFC title contender ‘The California Kid’ Urijah Faber (26-6) appears set to return to the Octagon in the New Year as part of UFC 156 when he meets English fighter Vaughan Lee (12-8-1).
News of the bout surfaced on Tatame.com.br on Saturday.
UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar is expected to take place on February 2, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Faber vs. Lee bout should appear on the pay-per-view card.
Faber had been scheduled to face opposing TUF: Live coach, and UFC bantamweight champ, Dominick Cruz this past July at UFC 149 but a knee injury forced Cruz out of the bout. Faber instead faced Renan Barao in an interim title bout at the Calgary event, losing a decision to the Brazilian.
The loss put Faber’s record at 1-2 in his last three and 3-2 as a bantamweight. ‘The California Kid’ earned his last win just over a year ago with a second round submission victory over Brian Bowles at UFC 139. The win also earned Faber a nice bonus for the “Submission of the Night.”
Lee is also sorting a 1-2 record over his last three fights, which were his only appearances in the Octagon to this point. He was forced to tap this summer at UFC on FUEL TV 4 in July after T.J. Dillashaw sunk in a rear-naked choke in the first round of their bout.
Previous to that Lee, like Faber, earned a “Submission of the Night” bonus for his work at UFC 144 in Japan after submitting Norifumi Yamamoto with an armbar. Lee debuted with the UFC at UFC 138 in his native England only to lose by split decision to Chris Cariaso.