Urijah Faber has put himself in the late career position of a headlining asset for the UFC. He’s fought for enough titles enough times and for long enough that at this point, he brings the promotion value on his own, whether there’s a belt on the line or not. This time around he’s made the move back to featherweight to take on top 5 stalwart and former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. If he gets the win here (or perhaps even if he doesn’t) it sounds like “The California Kid” already has a fight in mind that he’d like to see booked.
Speaking to the assembled media, Faber was eager to jump on the idea of fighting Conor McGregor in Ireland.
“Yeah, there’s been a little stirred up tension about that fight, and I would love to do that. Seems like… I want the fights that are big and have a lot of meaning, so I would love to go over there to Ireland.”
If his own insight into UFC 189 is on the money, however, that may mean fighting McGregor off a loss, as Faber ultimately put his faith in Aldo to keep his title.
“Man, it’s gonna be a good fight. I think Conor’s got that real power and Aldo has power as well. We’re still yet to see Conor’s full game tested. I don’t think he’s fought another guy that truly, really believes in himself, like Aldo does. There’s no doubt he has skill and Aldo has a lot of skill, so it’s going to come down to who’s the better fighter that night. In my opinion Aldo’s got the more well rounded game, but again, we haven’t seen Conor on the ground too much. We haven’t seen him deal with someone who’s a master kicker, someone that can really hammer kicks and knees and stuff like that, like Aldo can do. I’m going with Aldo.”
While he hit on a few other topics, one of the more surprising, potentially was his take on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight (although it may have had something to do with being in the Philippines). Faber prodded those who disliked the fight, saying “Fans are very spoiled now days,” and that he personally thought the fight was great.
Urijah Faber is set to take on Frankie Edgar this Saturday in Manila. The Fight Pass prelims are set to start at 7 am Eastern, 4 am Pacific.
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