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Retirement doesn't seem to be in the plans of Urijah Faber anytime soon. Already having retired once, The California Kid made a return to the Octagon after nearly three years away in 2019, defeating Ricky Simon in less than a minute.
His next outing, however, proved to be a far tougher challenge. He took on the #3 ranked Petr Yan. The Russian had been dubbed as one of the next rising contenders and he proved that the hype was real, getting wins over John Dodson and Jimmie Rivera before finishing Urijah Faber in the third round.
Faber has been in good spirits following the defeat and was interviewed by Ag Fight. He revealed that he renewed his contract with UFC, telling Dana White that he didn't want other offers tempting him on his return from retirement.
While he isn't fighting anytime soon, he intends to have fun in the process (H/T bloodyelbow.com)
“I told Dana I don’t want the temptation from all the other companies when I return from retirement. So we renegotiated the contract. I still have some fights left, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll do one of them. We’ll see what opportunities come up. I’ll stay in shape, go to the gym and have fun.”
He admitted that he needs an opponent next that makes sense and also needs a win before he can set his goals. He's targeting a super fight against former Alpha Male teammate T.J. Dillashaw, who is currently serving a suspension until January 21st, 2021.
“Before I lost to Petr Yan, I wanted a title fight. I was the underdog against the young prospect, number three guy in the world, I knew it would be a hard fight. For my next fight, if they give me an opponent that makes sense, I need to win again before I set my goals, be it a superfight against T.J. Dillashaw, or being able to take a title fight on short notice, or facing one of the big names in the division.
He named some of the fighters he wants to square off with
You got Dominick Cruz, T.J., Jose Aldo, Henry Cejudo, Marlon Moraes and all the up and coming guys who haven’t made a name for themselves yet. It’s an interesting time and I’ll take my time and see what I feel in my heart. Those are the fights that interest me, but I need to win again before that.
Faber's veteran presence will certainly boost the Bantamweight division while he's around. Given the level of competition around, with names such as Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, and Cory Sandhagen, it's going to be hard to imagine him winning a title at his age. Either way, we expect an exciting few fights from Faber in the coming few years.
