Back in MMA this Saturday, Faber reveals Cejudo’s inspiration to return to the octagon

U. Faber confirms his return to the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UrijahFaber

An old acquaintance of MMA enthusiasts is back in the world of fighting. After more than two years in retirement, the North American Urijah faber is back in the octagon to face his compatriot Ricky simon, this Saturday (13), at UFC Sacramento. According to the former challenger to the UFC featherweight title (up to 65,7kg), the recent challenge made by the bantamweight champion (up to 61,7kg), Henry Cejudo, was one of the motivations for the athlete to return to mixed martial arts at the age of 40. The statement was made in an interview with 'Combate'.

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“He (Cejudo) came to our gym 10 years ago, when he was thinking about doing MMA, but he said he didn't want to, because there was no money in the sport. I was trying to convince him to do the sport. He spent a few days at our gym and I remember that Henry is a guy who thinks big and really believes in things, and I'm like that too,” said Faber.

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After talking, Urijah, who was already a well-known athlete at the time, managed to convince the Olympic champion to switch to mixed martial arts once and for all, predicting a victorious future for the North American as the years went by.

“He said, 'I think I'll try MMA.' And then, between us, he said: 'What do you think, Faber? Maybe you and I will fight someday!' And I'm a guy who believes in anything, and I knew this guy was an Olympic champion saying that. 10 years ago, this was a gut feeling for him and me. I just said, 'Yeah, man, but you've got a long way to go.' And here we are, 10 years later, and he has traveled this path very quickly.

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Henry's challenge to Faber was made publicly for the first time after the American defeated Marlon moraes in the fight for the vacant bantamweight belt, in June this year, for the UFC 238. Still in the octagon, sporting his new belt, Cejudo challenged some legends of the sport. Among them, Faber.

According to Urijah, Brazilian Murilo Bustamante also played an important role in the decision to resume his career as a professional fighter. For Faber, the Rio native served as an inspiration by showing high performance in his fights after reaching the age of over 40. Bustamante fought until he was 46 years old.

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“I had a great conversation with Murilo Bustamante. He was here in California visiting my trainer, Fábio Prado, and he fought until he was in his early 40s. He was talking about how he never used doping, always fought clean, always stayed healthy, and it was part of his secret to facing the best in the world. I identified with this a lot”, confessed the 'California Boy'.

This Saturday, Urijah will face an athlete 14 years younger and who, currently, Ricky simon is in 15th position in the category in addition to having eight consecutive victories.

“He (Ricky) is a high-level fighter, he’s the type of fighter I’ve faced throughout my career. When you look at my career, I've faced pretty much every guy ranked in the top 10, and he has the potential to be there. I don’t think he’s going to beat me to get there, but before the end of it all, I think he’s going to be very successful in his career,” concluded Faber.

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If he emerges victorious, there is a chance that Urijah will once again form part of the elite group in the bantamweight division and, due to the athlete's morale with the organization, he could get closer to a future duel against a highly ranked fighter in the category.