Urijah Christopher Faber (born May 14, 1979) is a mixed martial arts fighter currently fighting as a featherweight in the World Extreme Cagefighting organization. Faber won the WEC featherweight championship at WEC 19 on March 17, 2006 and held the title for over two years until his loss to Mike Brown at WEC 36 on November 5, 2008. Currently Faber is ranked the #4 featherweight in the world by Sherdog.

Faber is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt under Fabio "Pateta" Prado, who is a 3rd degree black belt under Moises Muradi.

Early life

Born in Isla Vista, California (near the University of California, Santa Barbara), Faber was raised in Sacramento. Faber attended Lincoln High School in nearby Lincoln where he was a CIF wrestler. After graduating from Lincoln High School in 1998, Faber attended the University of California, Davis, where he was an NCAA wrestler. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development from UC Davis in 2003.Faber is nicknamed "The California Kid".

Mixed Martial Arts career

Faber made his professional MMA debut as part of the Gladiator Challenge promotion on November 12, 2003, defeating Jay Valencia by a guillotine choke at 1:22 of round 1. Faber then defeated George Adkins by TKO (strikes) on February 12, 2004, earning a shot at GC Bantamweight champion, David Velasquez. On June 6, 2004, Faber defeated Velasquez by unanimous decision, becoming the new GC Bantamweight champion. In his first title defense, Faber defeated Del Hawkins by TKO(strikes) at 3:19 of the first round on August 19, 2004. After this fight, Faber began to take fights in both GC and King of the Cage, GC's parent promotion.

Upon moving to KOTC, Faber defeated Rami Boukai by majority decision on September 24, 2004, barely a month after his last fight. On November 14, 2004, Faber defeated Eben Kaneshiro by submission (strikes) to win the KOTC Bantamweight championship, co-holding it with the GC Bantamweight title.

On March 13, 2005, Faber made his return to GC, defeating David Granados by rear naked choke at 2:13 of round 1. On May 7, 2005, he defended his KOTC belt for the first time, defeating Hiroyuki Abe by TKO (cut) at 2:37 of the third round. Returning to GC on September 10, 2005, Faber had his first defeat, losing the GC Bantamweight championship to Tyson Griffin by TKO (strikes) at :05 seconds of round 3.

On October 29, 2005, Faber defended his KOTC title again, defeating Shawn Bias by guillotine choke at 1:24 of the first round. He returned to GC on December 11, 2005, defeating Charles Bennett by rear naked choke at 4:38 of round 1. Faber then fought at a TKO Major League MMA event on January 8, 2006, facing Ivan Menjivar. Faber won by disqualification at 2:02 of the second round when Menjivar landed an illegal kick to a downed Faber.

World Extreme Cagefighting

On March 17, 2006, Faber competed for the first time in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, defeating Cole Escovedo by TKO (corner stoppage) after the end of the second round to win the WEC Featherweight Championship.

On May 13, 2006, Faber defended his KOTC Bantamweight title for the third time, defeating Charlie Valencia by rear naked choke at 3:09 of the first round. Faber then returned to GC July 1, 2006 and defeated Naoya Uematsu by TKO(strikes) at 3:35 of round 2 to reclaim the GC Bantamweight championship, thus holding three titles at once. Faber then took a fight in the Full Contact Promotions organization on September 9, 2006, defeating Enoch Wilson by TKO (strikes) at 1:01 of the second round. On October 28, Faber returned to KOTC and defended his title for the fourth and last time, defeating Bibiano Fernandes by TKO (cut) at 4:16 of round 1. Faber later vacated his KOTC and GC titles upon signing a contract with the WEC after it was purchased by Zuffa in December 2006.

At WEC 25: McCullough vs. Cope on January 20, 2007, Faber defended his WEC Featherweight title for the first time since winning it ten months prior, defeating Joe Pearson by submission(strikes) at 2:31 of the first round. At WEC 26: Condit vs. Alessio on March 24, 2007, he successfully defended his title for a second time by defeating Dominick Cruz by guillotine choke at 1:38 of round 1.

At WEC 28: WrekCage on June 3, 2007, Faber defeated Chance Farrar by rear naked choke at 3:19 of the first round. In his postfight interview, Faber called out K-1 Hero's 2005 middleweight (154 lb) tournament champion Norifumi Yamamoto, though this fight has yet to take place. After this match, Faber took a six month break between fights, the longest of his career. He came back at WEC 31: Faber vs. Curran on December 12, 2007, defeating Jeff Curran by guillotine choke at 4:34 of the second round. Also on this card was the WEC debut of Jens Pulver, who was moving back down to featherweight from the 155 lb lightweight division. In Jens WEC debut, he submitted Cub Swanson in the first round of their match setting up a title match between Pulver and Faber. Pulver and Faber both commented in their postfight interviews that they wanted to fight each other, and the match was signed for June 1, 2008 at WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver. Faber and Pulver fought a constant back-and-forth battle, but neither man was able to finish the other and the fight went the full five rounds, the first time in Faber's WEC career that one of his fights had gone the distance. The judges scored the bout a unanimous decision for Faber, 50–45, 50–44 and 50–44. This fight also marked both the first time that one of Pulver's fights at featherweight had gone to decision and the first time Pulver had been defeated at that weight class.

Losing the title

Faber was next scheduled to fight Mike Brown at WEC 36 on September 10, 2008 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. However, this fight was postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Ike and was rescheduled for November 5, 2008 at the same location. Faber was defeated via TKO at 2:23 of the first round.

Attempting to regain the title

On January 25, 2009 at WEC 38 Faber fought Jens Pulver in a rematch, with Faber winning by guillotine choke at 1:34 of the first round. Post-fight, Faber addressed WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown, who was seated at ringside and announced he wanted a shot at regaining his title. When Brown made his first successful title defense at WEC 39 in Corpus Christi, Texas, he responded to Faber's comments by saying that a rematch between the two of them was something "the fans want to see."

Faber was defeated a second time by Mike Brown at WEC 41 on June 7, 2009 by a unanimous decision (49–46, 49–46 and 48–47) in front of his hometown crowd in Sacramento. Early in the fight, Faber broke his right hand and later dislocated his left thumb, resorting to using primarily elbows and kicks starting in round 3. Nonetheless, even in the fifth round Faber threw 15 left hooks or jabs, many of which connected. Sherdog and ESPN.com in a post-fight article noted that Faber's "right hand was no match for the top of Mike Brown's head." Immediately after the fight, Faber stated he would like another rematch against Brown.

Faber appeared on WEC 43 as a guest commentator and returned to action in January. He submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Raphael Assuncao via rear naked choke in third round at WEC 46, earning the Submission of the Night award.

With the victory over Assuncao, Faber earned a shot to fight Jose Aldo for the WEC Featherweight Championship on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48.He was dominated throughout the fight by Aldo, and lost via unanimous decision

Move to Bantamweight

Faber is expected to make his bantamweight debut against Japanese striker Takeya Mizugaki on August 18, 2010 at WEC 50. Urijah has not yet commented on the possibility of fighting his fellow stablemate Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez is currently the #1 contender for the 135 pound (Bantamweight) title and will face the champion Dominick Cruz in August 2010. Faber is widely credited for giving Benavidez the opportunity to break into professional MMA after training and mentoring Benavidez for years.

Mixed Martial Arts record

27 matches 23 wins 4 losses

By knockout 13 2

By submission 7 0

By decision 2 2

By disqualification 1 0

Takeya Mizugaki WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez 2010-08-18 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Bantamweight debut

Loss 23–4 José Aldo Decision (Unanimous) WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber 2010-04-24 5 5:00 Sacramento, California, U.S. For the WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 23–3 Raphael Assuncao Submission (Rear Naked Choke) WEC 46: Varner vs. Henderson 2010-01-10 3 3:49 Sacramento, California, U.S. Won Submission of the Night

Loss 22–3 Mike Brown Decision (Unanimous) WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2 2009-06-07 5 5:00 Sacramento, California, U.S. For the WEC Featherweight Championship.

Win 22–2 Jens Pulver Submission (Guillotine) WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone 2009-01-25 1 1:34 San Diego, California, U.S.

Loss 21–2 Mike Brown TKO (Punches) WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown 2008-11-05 1 2:23 Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Lost WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 21–1 Jens Pulver Decision (Unanimous) WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver 2008-06-01 5 5:00 Sacramento, California, U.S. Defended WEC Featherweight Championship; Won Fight of the Night Honors

Win 20–1 Jeff Curran Submission (Guillotine Choke) WEC 31: Faber vs. Curran 2007-12-12 2 4:34 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Defended WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 19–1 Chance Farrar Submission (Rear Naked Choke) WEC 28: WrekCage 2007-06-03 1 3:19 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Defended WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 18–1 Dominick Cruz Submission (Guillotine Choke) WEC 26: Condit vs. Alessio 2007-03-24 1 1:38 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Defended WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 17–1 Joe Pearson Submission (Punches and Elbows) WEC 25: McCullough vs. Cope 2007-01-20 1 2:31 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Defended WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 16–1 Bibiano Fernandes TKO (Doctor Stoppage) KOTC: All Stars 2006-10-28 1 4:16 Reno, Nevada, U.S. Title later vacated due to WEC commitments

Win 15–1 Enoch Wilson TKO (Doctor Stoppage) FCP: Malice at Cow Palace 2006-09-09 2 1:01 San Francisco, California, U.S.

Win 14–1 Naoya Uematsu TKO (Punches) GC 51: Madness at the Memorial 2006-07-01 2 3:35 Sacramento, California, U.S. Won Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight Championship

Win 13–1 Charlie Valencia Submission (Rear Naked Choke) KOTC: Predator 2006-05-13 1 3:09 Globe, Arizona, U.S.

Win 12–1 Cole Escovedo TKO (Corner Stoppage) WEC 19: Undisputed 2006-03-17 2 5:00 Lemoore, California, U.S. Won WEC Featherweight Championship

Win 11–1 Ivan Menjivar DQ (Illegal kick to downed opponent) TKO 24: Eruption 2006-01-28 2 2:02 Laval, Quebec, Canada

Win 10–1 Charles Bennett Submission (Rear Naked Choke) GC 46: Avalanche 2005-12-11 1 4:38 Coarsegold, California, U.S.

Win 9–1 Shawn Bias Submission (Guillotine Choke) KOTC: Execution Day 2005-10-29 1 1:24 Reno, Nevada, U.S.

Loss 8–1 Tyson Griffin TKO (Punches) GC 42: Summer Slam 2005-09-10 3 0:05 Lakeport, California, U.S. Lost Gladiator Challenge Lightweight Championship

Win 8–0 Hiroyuki Abe TKO (Cut) KOTC: Mortal Sins 2005-05-07 3 2:37 Primm, Nevada, U.S.

Win 7–0 David Granados Submission (Rear Naked Choke) GC 35: Cold Fury 2005-03-13 1 2:13 Porterville, California, U.S.

Win 6–0 Eben Kaneshiro Submission (Punches) KOTC: Revenge 2004-11-14 3 4:33 San Jacinto, California, U.S. Won King Of The Cage Bantamweight Championship

Win 5–0 Rami Boukai Decision (Majority) KOTC: San Jacinto 2004-09-24 2 5:00 San Jacinto, California, U.S.

Win 4–0 Del Hawkins TKO (Punches) GC 30: Gladiator Challenge 30 2004-08-19 1 3:19 Colusa, California, U.S.

Win 3–0 David Velasquez Decision (Unanimous) GC 27: FightFest 2 2004-06-03 3 5:00 Colusa, California, U.S. Won Gladiator Challenge Lightweight Championship

Win 2–0 George Adkins TKO (Corner Stoppage) GC 22: Gladiator Challenge 22 2004-02-12 2 2:42 Colusa, California, U.S.

Win 1–0 Jay Valencia Submission (Guillotine Choke) GC 20: Gladiator Challenge 20 2003-11-12 1 1:22 Colusa, California, U.S.