Urijah Faber on Henry Cejudo's Callout: 'I Would Love to Do a Matchup'
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40-year-old Urijah Faber will suspend his almost two-year retirement when he returns to the Octagon on July 13 to face bantamweight prospect Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship's 135-pound division is the topic du jour this week after flyweight champion Henry Cejudo defeated number one contender Marlon Moraes to win the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 238 in Chicago. Cejudo is also an Olympic champion in wrestling, making him the only UFC fighter to hold two simultaneous belts while also being an Olympic gold medalist.
"The California Kid" spoke to Jim Rome recently and reacted to both Cejudo's tremendous victory and post-fight callouts, which included Faber and former bantamweight champions Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt.
"First off, I've been a huge fan of Henry," said Faber. "I mean, they call him the 'Cringe' because of the goofy stuff he does, but you can't deny that he's got a mindset that is champion to the utmost. Gold medal as young as he did in the Olympics, and then becoming a two-time champion in two different weight classes, two of the toughest weight classes, incredible. You saw that champion mindset take over. Moraes is a guy that's a champion as well. So, to see him getting outclassed in the first round and hit a mental switch to turn around and break a guy like Moraes speaks volumes." With regards to Cejudo's impassioned request to fight Faber and the two other biggest names at 135, the Sacramento-native was receptive. "You know, things come up to matchups. I've never been broken in a fight. He's a wrestler first but has really good standup as he's shown as of late. [He has an] iron jaw and a great mindset. But, you know, a matchup with him and Cody is super exciting. I would love to do a matchup. There's nothing in the world that excites me more than fighting somebody that could possibly be one of the best of all time in combat sports. I mean, how exciting is that for somebody whose got their own goal to be that. Then Dominick Cruz, you can never count that guy out. He's a champion of champions as well. So, I liked his callouts and I would love to see a fight with myself, or Cody, or Dominick Cruz for Henry."
40-year-old Urijah Faber will suspend his almost two-year retirement when he returns to the Octagon on July 13 to face bantamweight prospect Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship's 135-pound division is the topic du jour this week after flyweight champion Henry Cejudo defeated number one contender Marlon Moraes to win the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 238 in Chicago. Cejudo is also an Olympic champion in wrestling, making him the only UFC fighter to hold two simultaneous belts while also being an Olympic gold medalist.
"The California Kid" spoke to Jim Rome recently and reacted to both Cejudo's tremendous victory and post-fight callouts, which included Faber and former bantamweight champions Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt.
"First off, I've been a huge fan of Henry," said Faber. "I mean, they call him the 'Cringe' because of the goofy stuff he does, but you can't deny that he's got a mindset that is champion to the utmost. Gold medal as young as he did in the Olympics, and then becoming a two-time champion in two different weight classes, two of the toughest weight classes, incredible. You saw that champion mindset take over. Moraes is a guy that's a champion as well. So, to see him getting outclassed in the first round and hit a mental switch to turn around and break a guy like Moraes speaks volumes." With regards to Cejudo's impassioned request to fight Faber and the two other biggest names at 135, the Sacramento-native was receptive. "You know, things come up to matchups. I've never been broken in a fight. He's a wrestler first but has really good standup as he's shown as of late. [He has an] iron jaw and a great mindset. But, you know, a matchup with him and Cody is super exciting. I would love to do a matchup. There's nothing in the world that excites me more than fighting somebody that could possibly be one of the best of all time in combat sports. I mean, how exciting is that for somebody whose got their own goal to be that. Then Dominick Cruz, you can never count that guy out. He's a champion of champions as well. So, I liked his callouts and I would love to see a fight with myself, or Cody, or Dominick Cruz for Henry."
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