There was perhaps only one person who envisioned that we would be talking about a potential Henry Cejudo vs. Urijah Faber matchup two months ago, and that person is not Urijah Faber. This all changed when Henry Cejudo became the UFC bantamweight champion at UFC 238 and used his microphone time to issue callouts to three fighters, one of which being “The California Kid” Urijah Faber himself. So when Urijah Faber picked up an impressive first-round TKO over Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento, Urijah Faber used his microphone time to return the favor. And if the UFC does give this unlikely title fight the green light, Faber believes that, even at 40 years of age, he matches up well against “Triple C”:

“Very good I would think,” Faber said of how he matches up with Henry Cejudo. “Honestly, 2016 I left as a top contender. I was ranked No. 2 when I lost to Jimmie [Rivera], and he was just kicking my ankle a little bit. In retrospect, I came out on a win but I left a championship fighter. It’s about matchups. Dominick Cruz is a tough matchup, you guys know how awkward he is and he’s gotten better over time in my opinion.

“Henry broke or I would say out conditioned and kind of broke his last fight, [Marlon] Moraes, and I’m not the type of guy that will ever break. My jiu-jitsu is definitely better than Henry and he’s got that wrestling background and I love to wrestle. I think it’s a good matchup.”


If there was ever a time to make a title fight between Henry Cejudo and Urijah Faber, it’s now, Faber believes, especially if the UFC is looking to create some theater:

“There’s more opportunity with T.J. in the mix to be honest,” Faber said. “You want to write a movie? Put that scenario in there,” Faber said.