By Frank Curreri



SACRAMENTO –The Urijah Faber who performed at ARCO Arena on Sunday night was far different from the one who lost his title seven months ago. This time he fought inspired. He fought with one hand. And the world’s most popular 145-pounder dug deep into his bag of tricks and veered from the recklessness that has been his undoing last time around. But in the end, despite much creativity and courage, the result was the same: Mike Brown is the WEC featherweight champion. 



Competing in the most hostile of environments and mercilessly booed by an unforgiving crowd, Brown at least held his own with Faber in the standup realm and repeatedly took the ex-champ down and threatened him with submissions and superior position to earn a unanimous decision by scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. 



“Urijah is tough,” Brown, who beat Faber by first-round TKO last November, said during a post-fight interview inside the cage. “I just really couldn’t get my gloves on his head. He’s a world-class fighter, man.”

To chants of “Faber! Faber! Faber!” The California Kid came out gunslinging in round one, peppering the champ with crisp combinations and keeping him off-balance with front kicks and head kicks. During the fast and furious battle, Brown managed to crack Faber with an occasional punch and score a takedown, and Faber fought off a guillotine choke attempt. 



In the second round, Brown stole back the momentum, scoring takedowns, passing Faber’s guard and threatening him with a guillotine choke. Though Faber defended the attacks, it was clear that Brown had become the aggressor and was imposing his will. Toward the end of the round, Faber began to hold his hands dangerously low, as if to bait his heavy-handed foe. Some fans yelled “Get your hands up!! Get your hands up!”

Faber looked uncharacteristically winded and was only firing kicks, elbows and punching with his left hand. He would later indicate that his right hand was broken during the bout. 



In the third round, Brown continued to dominate the action, landing a hard right, scoring takedowns and hunting again for a guillotine. By now, Faber’s hometown faithful had become relatively quiet and subdued, sensing that his chance at victory was slipping away. Brown kept up the pressure over the next two rounds to retain his title. 



“I apologize guys,” Faber (22-3) told the crowd as he iced his swollen right hand. “I stayed in there, it was all elbows after that (breaking my hand). I would love to get back out there and get another shot at the title. I’m glad you guys liked it. I wish I could have won for you guys but I’ll be back.” 



With the win, Brown pushed his record to 22-4 and now anticipates possibly defending his title against Jose Aldo, who defeated Cub Swanson on the same card. 

“He’s awesome man,” Brown said of Aldo. “I think it’d be a great title fight. I just can’t wait to see Urijah back in a title fight.”