“No, I’m not gonna retire. [Joe] Rogan asked me the hard questions and I do this to be the best. I feel like [at age] 37 [was] one of the best training camps I’ve had, period. It was amazing… I know I’m right there at the top. I don’t know what’s next necessarily. I’m gonna chill for a bit. But I’m definitely not done done… This is something I’ve always done for the passion. I mean, my first fight I made $200, $200 to win. It wasn’t because I had visions of being super rich. Luckily, the sport has caught up and it’s always nice to get paid. But I forget about the paycheck until they put it in your hands. It’s about competition, it’s about doing what I love. Yeah, I’ve got a great grasp on business, I’ve got great relationships, I’ve got a lot of things I love to do outside of the fight game, but I still have a passion for it and I still feel like I’m one of the best in the world hands down. I have been my entire career. I don’t want to stick around too much longer, but I do want to have some big fights.”
-Urijah Faber talks to MMAFighting.com about his fighting future after his loss to Dominick Cruz at UFC 199.
Penick’s Analysis: Faber’s changed his stance somewhat from into the UFC 199 event, where he said he wasn’t going to continue fighting if he wasn’t in the championship mix. He’s not in the championship mix after losing more convincingly to Cruz this time around. Of course, he’s still a name who can sell fights, so while he’s unlikely to fight for the title again there are still a lot of interesting matchups for him to take. As long as he’s competitive and can still beat other fighters, he’s going to be around in that mix, but he’s now almost assuredly had his last title fight. He’ll need to decide how long he wants to hang around in that role.
[Photo (c) Gary A. Vasquez via USA Today Sports]
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