Even at 45, the competitive fire still burns inside Urijah Faber.
The UFC icon, for years one of the finest lower-weight fighters in mixed martial arts, has been absent from mixed martial arts for five years but has said that he will considered future combat opportunities — but likely not in MMA.
Faber was in action in Abu Dhabi this past Friday where he defeated longtime Dream and ONE FC competitor Bibiano Fernandes in a grappling match, and after having scratched that competitive itch he admits that he wouldn’t be against the idea of a move to bare-knuckle boxing — especially considering his longtime association with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship co-owner Conor McGregor.
“I’ve had some good offers money-wise for bare-knuckle, but I’m not trying to fight world champion boxers in bare-knuckle,” Faber said, via MMA Fighting.
“You know, I’ve got kids, I don’t want to break cheekbones and that kind of stuff, lose teeth. But if they had an interesting matchup, my boy Conor McGregor is now an owner there, so he could probably find an opponent for me. I’m just competing. At 45, I want to keep testing myself and keep staying active as an athlete. It’s my passion. That’s what I’ve done my whole life.”
Faber added that a common opponent of his (and Conor McGregor’s) has expressed an interest in a boxing match — but with the gloves on.
“Chad Mendes and I both fought Jose Aldo and he was our toughest fight, so I’d prefer not to get beat up by Aldo at this point in my life,” Faber joked. “I would do a boxing match against him. I think they offered me something not too long ago, before he signed back with the UFC, but it was not the kind of offer that was super intriguing. And I talked to Aldo before about bare-knuckle. He has no desire of doing bare-knuckle. But I would do a boxing match with Jose Aldo.
“I love boxing. I love pure boxing. I love pure wrestling. I love pure jiu-jitsu. I love blending it together. I would not want to do a kickboxing match with Jose Aldo, that’s for damn sure. I learned my lesson. Google ‘Urijah Faber’s leg,’ and if you don’t know what we’re talking about, you’ll know.”
