Urijah Faber is more than open to a fight with UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo.
Faber comes out of retirement when he takes on Ricky Simon in a bantamweight matchup at UFC Sacramento this weekend. The former WEC featherweight champion is not sure how his comeback will go, but he is entertaining all possible scenarios, including a fight with Cejudo.
Cejudo, of course, became a two-weight champion when he defeated Marlon Moraes to become the 135-pound king at UFC 238 last month. He would call out a number of names afterwards, with Faber being one of them.
Should Faber defeat Simon, he has the name and popularity to potentially challenge Cejudo next and become a UFC champion for the first time:
“Absolutely, I’ll never rule that out,” Faber told MMA Fighting. “Henry just called me out, the current champ at two different weight classes and an Olympic gold medalist. So that’s an enticing fight for me because of the matchup, and you know, the reason I’m in the sport. And the fact he threw me in the mix and we talked about it 10 years ago prior, which is kind of cool how that all played out. So that’s always in the back of my head, for sure.”
Cejudo notably trained at Faber’s Team Alpha Male 10 years ago when he was getting his start in mixed martial arts. Faber recalled that moment as “The Messenger” had designs on facing him all the way back then as well:
“Theres a video on YouTube of me where I’m interviewing Henry and introducing him to the world as the Olympic champ and his new shoe and that was 10 years ago,” Faber explained. “He was there talking shop about getting involved and everything else so we spent some time, and then at the end of it, he said, ‘What do you think about maybe you and me fighting some day,’ and I took it real serious, in a good way.
“I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely, man.’ And I think I probably said something of how long of a road that would be and it’s 10 years later now, so the road has been traveled.”
Faber Believes Title Shot Is Possible
Despite it being nearly three years since his last fight, Faber still believes he has what it takes at the top level. After all, he is still active and even when he retired, he challenged for the bantamweight title that same year.
“I mean I can do it [challenge for the belt] after this one,” Faber added. “When I retired, the year I retired I fought for a world championship, I lost a decision to Dominick Cruz and I was ranked like number six in the world or something like that, so that’s how I retired, off a win. So that’s where my head has been at.
“I’ve always counted myself in for the biggest opportunities against the best guys and I don’t say no to guys that may not have as much clout either, you know. I’ve done that in the past and I’m doing that again, so I’m just an honest combative MMA athlete that’s going to get in there to mix it up and believe he’s going to win. That’s the goal on Saturday.”
Do you think Urijah Faber gets the job done this Saturday and potentially challenges Henry Cejudo next?
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