66 Facts About Urijah Faber

Urijah Faber was born on May 14,1979 and is an American mixed martial artist and actor who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Urijah Faber competed as a bantamweight and formerly competed as a featherweight.

Urijah Faber went on to challenge for the WEC Featherweight Championship two more times and challenged for the UFC Bantamweight Championship four times.

Urijah Faber is widely regarded as one of MMA's pioneers for establishing legitimacy to lighter-weight classes.

Urijah Faber came out of retirement in 2019 and defeated Ricky Simon by first-round TKO.

Urijah Faber was born on May 14,1979, in Isla Vista, California, to Theo and Suzanne Urijah Faber.

Urijah Faber is of Dutch descent on his father's side, and Italian, English, and Irish on his mother's side.

Urijah Faber went to Glen Edwards Middle School, Casa Roble High School and Lincoln High School.

Urijah Faber graduated from the University of California, Davis with a bachelor's degree in Human Development.

Urijah Faber made his professional MMA debut as part of the Gladiator Challenge promotion on November 12,2003, defeating Poes Manne by a guillotine choke at 1:22 of round 1.

Urijah Faber then defeated George Adkins by TKO on February 12,2004, earning a shot at GC Bantamweight champion, David Velasquez.

On June 6,2004, Urijah Faber defeated Velasquez by unanimous decision, becoming the new GC Bantamweight champion.

On November 14,2004, Urijah Faber defeated Eben Kaneshiro by submission to win the King of the Cage Bantamweight Championship, co-holding it with the GC Bantamweight title.

On March 13,2005, Urijah Faber made his return to GC, defeating David Granados by rear naked choke at 2:13 of round 1.

On October 29,2005, Urijah Faber defended his KOTC title again, defeating Shawn Bias by guillotine choke at 1:24 of the first round.

Urijah Faber returned to GC on December 11,2005, defeating Charles Bennett by rear-naked choke at 4:38 of round 1.

Urijah Faber then fought at a TKO Major League MMA event on January 8,2006, facing Ivan Menjivar.

Urijah Faber won by disqualification at 2:02 of the second round when Menjivar landed an illegal kick to a downed Urijah Faber.

On March 17,2006, Urijah Faber competed for the first time in the World Extreme Cagefighting promotion, beating Cole Escovedo by second-round doctors stoppage and winning the WEC Featherweight Championship.

Urijah Faber then returned to GC July 1,2006, and defeated Naoya Uematsu by TKO at 3:35 of round 2 to reclaim the GC Bantamweight championship, thus holding three titles at once.

Urijah Faber then took a fight in the Full Contact Promotions organization on September 9,2006, defeating Enoch Wilson by TKO at 1:01 of the second round.

Urijah 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, Urijah Faber defended his WEC Featherweight Championship for the first time since winning it ten months prior, defeating Joe Pearson by submission at 2:31 of the first round.

At WEC 28: WrekCage on June 3,2007, Urijah Faber defeated Chance Farrar by rear-naked choke submission at 3:19 of the first round.

Urijah Faber came back at WEC 31: Faber vs Curran on December 12,2007, defeating Jeff Curran by guillotine choke submission at 4:34 of the second round.

Pulver and Urijah Faber both commented in their post-fight interviews that they wanted to fight each other, and the match was signed for June 1,2008, at WEC 34: Urijah Faber vs Pulver.

Urijah Faber was defeated via TKO at 2:23 of the first round.

On January 25,2009, at WEC 38 Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver in a rematch, with Urijah Faber winning by guillotine choke submission at 1:34 of the first round.

Post-fight, Urijah Faber addressed WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown, who was seated at ringside and announced he wanted a shot at regaining his title.

Urijah Faber was defeated a second time by Mike Brown at WEC 41 on June 7,2009, by a unanimous decision in front of his hometown crowd in Sacramento.

Early in the fight, Urijah Faber broke his right hand and later dislocated his left thumb, resorting to using primarily elbows and kicks starting in the third round.

Nonetheless, even in the fifth round, Urijah Faber threw 15 left hooks or jabs, many of which connected.

Urijah Faber submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Raphael Assuncao via rear naked choke submission in third round at WEC 46, earning the Submission of the Night award.

Urijah Faber decided to move down to bantamweight after his defeat by Jose Aldo at featherweight.

Urijah Faber was set to move down against Japanese striker Takeya Mizugaki on August 18,2010, at WEC 50.

However, Urijah Faber was forced off the card with an injury.

Urijah Faber defeated Mizugaki via first round rear naked choke, earning Submission of the Night honors.

Urijah Faber made his promotional debut against former WEC Bantamweight Champion Eddie Wineland on March 19,2011, at UFC 128.

Urijah Faber faced Brian Bowles on November 19,2011, at UFC 139.

Urijah Faber defeated Bowles via second round submission, earning Submission of the Night honors.

Urijah Faber lost the fight by unanimous decision, suffering a broken rib during the first round.

Urijah Faber faced Ivan Menjivar in a rematch on February 23,2013, at UFC 157.

Urijah Faber defeated Menjivar in the first round with a rear naked choke submission.

Urijah Faber made one small technical error, and I was able to capitalize on it.

Urijah Faber faced Iuri Alcantara on August 17,2013, at UFC Fight Night 26.

Urijah Faber faced Michael McDonald on December 14,2013, at UFC on Fox 9.

Subsequently, Urijah Faber was awarded with Submission of the Night honors for his performance.

When Dominick Cruz injured himself before his unification bout with Renan Barao, Urijah Faber was chosen as the replacement in the title fight at UFC 169.

Urijah Faber grabbed Barao's leg, and gave the referee the thumbs-up, indicating that he wanted the fight to continue.

Urijah Faber next faced Alex Caceres at UFC 175 on July 5,2014.

Urijah Faber won the fight via submission, making Caceres tap to a rear naked choke at 1:09 of the third round.

Urijah Faber was briefly linked to a bout with Masanori Kanehara on September 20,2014, at UFC Fight Night 52.

However, before the bout was officially announced, Urijah Faber was removed and Kanehara faced Alex Caceres.

Urijah Faber next faced Francisco Rivera on December 6,2014, at UFC 181.

However, the ending was controversial, as Urijah Faber stunned Rivera with an eyepoke during a standup exchange.

Urijah Faber lost the fight via unanimous decision, this was his first career loss in a non-title bout.

Urijah Faber faced Frankie Saenz on December 12,2015, at UFC 194.

Urijah Faber next faced Jimmie Rivera on September 10,2016, at UFC 203.

In October 2016, Urijah Faber announced that his next fight, a bout against Brad Pickett on December 17,2016, at UFC on Fox 22 in his home town of Sacramento would be his last.

Urijah Faber went on to win the fight by unanimous decision.

Urijah Faber won the bout via TKO in the first round, becoming the second fighter to win a UFC bout after being inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame.

Urijah Faber faced Petr Yan on December 14,2019, at UFC 245.

In December 2021, Urijah Faber agreed on short notice to compete in his first Combat Jiu-Jitsu match against a CJJ world champion Elias Anderson, at the Featherweight edition of the CJJ world championships.

The match between Anderson and Urijah Faber was then re-booked for Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds Team Duel on December 18,2022.

Urijah Faber returned to wrestling competition at the 2022 US Open alongside his teammate Clay Guida, coming away with a silver medal at the event.

Urijah Faber and Jaslyn have a daughter, Cali, who was born on March 14,2019, and a son, Rome, who was born on October 8,2020.