'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#3 Urijah Faber
Widely recognised as one of the greatest lighter weight fighters of all time and as one of the men who proved to the power-brokers at the UFC that Featherweight and Bantamweight fighters could draw money and become popular with the fans, Urijah Faber stepped away from actively competing in MMA at the end of 2016.
His career ended on a high though, as he outpointed fellow Bantamweight veteran Brad Pickett – who also went on to retire following one more fight – to win his in his final Octagon appearance in his hometown of Sacramento, California. Faber – who still fit his moniker ‘The California Kid’ despite being 37 years old when he retired – ended his career with an overall record of 34-10.
10 of those wins – and 6 of his losses too – came inside the UFC, where he never quite reached the top of his division despite having four shots at the UFC Bantamweight title. Interestingly, he was beaten on all four occasions by the same two men – Renan Barao, and his bitter rival Dominick Cruz.
By the time of his retirement it was clear that while Faber was still one of the best in the world at 135lbs, he couldn’t quite compete with the very top fighters any more – as evidenced by his September 2016 loss to Jimmie Rivera, his first in a non-title fight at 135lbs. Faber still coaches at Team Alpha Male and regularly appears as an analyst on UFC programming.
