“If Urijah would be the champion I think he would beat Cruz in the next fight. We talked about it before, he’ll go out as champion, retire, you know? Like, Urijah has done so much for the sport and been a world champion, he’s been the featherweight king at the WEC – and people seem to forget Urijah ruled that era for a very long time, fought some of the best fighters. What else would he have to prove? You win the title and go out, storybook ending. Boom, done… I mean, what else does he do? You beat Cruz, who just beat T.J. for the title. Yeah we talked about it, we talked about it. His fight with Cruz is a storybook ending. He’s had his career, being champion and then fighting back, losing the title, coming back, dropping a weight class, losing a close fight to the champion, another title fight, losing these close title fights and then coming back and then winning the last fight to win the title. That’s the story book ending.”
-Team Alpha Male faithful Cody Garbrandt talks to Submission Radio about Urijah Faber, and why he thinks the longtime vet will retire if he beats Dominick Cruz for the UFC Bantamweight Championship.
Penick’s Analysis: If Faber gets that shot at Cruz – and at this stage in proceedings it certainly seems to be the direction the UFC is heading – it’s easy to see him walking away with a win. He’ll be coming up on 37-years-old by the time the fight happens if it happens this year, he’s been fighting professionally for more than 12 years, and he’s spent nearly a decade as an elite competitor. If he feels like that’s the way to go out, that’s the way he’ll go out. Of course, beating Dominick Cruz in 2016 could be a tough ask, especially with how much success Frankie Saenz found against him in his last bout. Faber might just have it in him to win one last major fight if he gets that opportunity, but it might be more likely that we see him lose the rubber match. Whether that would keep him around or not is questionable, but it’s possible this winds up his final fight one way or another.
[Urijah Faber art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
Attention iPhone/iPad users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out! An update to our Android app is on its way soon as well, so Android users keep an eye out for that update soon!
Leave a Reply