Faber’s Return Set for November

For Urijah Faber, November can't get here soon enough.

That's because "The California Kid" is eager to get back into the World Extreme Cagefighting cage following a knee injury that kept him off WEC 50 on Aug. 18 in Las Vegas. Faber was scheduled to face Takeya Mizugaki in his debut at 135 pounds, but he pulled out of the fight in early July due to the injury, which didn't require surgery.

Faber-Mizugaki looks to be re-scheduled for a yet-to-be announced WEC 52 event, possibly in the popular fighter’s backyard of Sacramento, Calif.

"I'm back to full-on training now," Faber told the Sherdog Radio Network's "Savage Dog Show" last week. "Hopefully I'll get a chance to fight in November. I told (WEC officials) I could go in September when I found out I'd be out four to six weeks. I wanted to be on the Sept. 30 card, but I got pushed back to November."

The extent of Faber's knee injury and how it happened was not widely known, but Faber said it just happened during a Team Alpha Male workout in Sacramento, Calif.

"I was doing some kickboxing and takedowns and my leg got yanked from the outside in," said Faber. "They said it was an atypical injury to my MCL. My MCL kind of peeled away from the bone. They told me I wouldn't need surgery, but I'd be out four to six weeks. I was able to do some stuff without twisting it, so I was able to work out, do physical therapy and stay in shape. It's been six weeks since I hurt my leg, this was supposed to be a six-week injury and I had my first full week of practice last week."

The 31-year-old Faber, who has 19 finishes (12 submissions and seven knockouts) among his 23 wins, strung together a 13-fight winning streak that ran from October 2005 until November 2008 that saw him win the WEC featherweight title and become one of the top fighters in the world at 145 pounds. During that run, Faber garnered several high-profile sponsorships and became the face of the WEC, something he said just came from being himself.

"You hear people talking about the 'it' factor," said Faber. "I'm not sure what that means, but ever since I can remember, I was a leader, in the limelight and someone people looked up to. To me, it's just being good person, having good energy and having a good time. I've made a conscious effort to build my brand, but I've always been honest with it. When I see people standing in line to get my autograph, that's powerful. I never planned on doing anything more than living each day and having fun, but I've been able to build something that can last the rest of my life."

However, Faber has gone 2-3 in the WEC cage in his last five fights, dropping a unanimous decision to featherweight champion Jose Aldo at WEC 48 in April.

Those struggles led to Faber's move to 135 pounds, but Faber hasn't ruled out an eventual return to 145 or even going up to 155 pounds under the right circumstances.

"Where I'm at right now, I'm just having a great time and fighting my heart out," said Faber, who owns wins over Raphael Assuncao, Jens Pulver (twice), Jeff Curran, Cruz, Bibiano Fernandes, Charlie Valencia and Cole Escovedo. "I just want fights that make sense. (A fight with Miguel) Torres would be bigger for me right now than (fighting WEC bantamweight champion Dominick) Cruz. There are all kinds of fights I can do right now and can go back up to 145. I feel like I can do well against most anybody at 145 and I'd be willing to go to 155 at some point."