Det var i slutet av 2016 som den före detta UFC-fightern och titelutmanaren Urijah Faber (34-10) valde att hänga upp handskarna. I en intervju med submission radio berättar Faber att trots att han i nuläget är pensionerad så fortsätter han att träna hårdare än många aktiva fighters och att han fortfarande är med i USADAS testpool. Med detta i åtanke berättade Faber även att han alltid är öppen för möjligheter och att en comeback inte är helt utesluten.
Look, I spent a lot of time getting really great at fighting and I’m able-bodied and healthy. I train just as much or more than some of the guys that are active but it’s not my goal to come back, necessarily. It’s just the habits that I’ve created in my life. I would say I’m always open to entertain any business opportunity or offer, and I love to do things that I love to do, so I’m not gonna cut anything out. I still get tested from USADA just because I’ve never taken drugs in my life so I don’t really care about that. It’s well worth it. The difference is, if there was a big opportunity and someone wanted you to fight and it sounded like a good idea, I wouldn’t want to wait four months to get cleared when I’m not doing drugs anyway. So I’ll take one for the team on a 6 a.m. wake-up call. I’ve got it down pat anyways. I pretty much sleep through the whole thing aside from when I’m giving the urine sample.
Trots detta påstår Faber att han i nuläget inte ser någonting som intresserar honom tillräckligt mycket.
I don’t see any big opportunities but you never know with these guys. Like I said, I’ve gotten some crazy calls throughout the years. . . You never know when that kind of stuff happens.
Faber passade även på att uttala sig om den påstådda matchen mellan T.J. Dillashaw (15-3) och Demetrious Johnson (27-2).
T.J., for the longest time, he was having trouble putting weight on. He was 143 when he first in the gym and it was a struggle to get bigger and we talked about going down to 125 for a long time. I’m interested to see it I guess but I’m more interested in the 135-pound division as a whole. I’d like to see him defending and of course I’d like to see Cody get that rematch or some of the other guys that are up-and-coming in the division. I would probably lean towards T.J., just because I remember what happened with Dominick Cruz when he fought T.J. and there was a little bit of wrestling involved. T.J.’s actually a Division I wrestler, a very good wrestler. It would be a close fight, absolutely. It could go either way, but my insight tells me he would get the win.
Nedan kan ni se hela intervjun:
Fabers sista match stod mot Brad Pickett (25-14). Matchen slutade med Faber som segrare via enhälligt domslut.
