WEC, Urijah Faber and No Fear Join Forces

On December 12, 2007, Urijah Faber put Jeff Curran in a guillotine choke at the 4:34 second mark of the second round to score a highly impressive win and, for all intents and purposes, put his name in bright lights as a full-on World Extreme Cagefighting superstar. That same evening and on the very same fight card, Jens Pulver convincingly won his fight, and within a few hours after the event, it was decided that Pulver and Faber would fight each other for the WEC Featherweight Championship on Sunday, June 1, 2008 in Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.

In the months leading up to the bout — a bout that was being hyped as one of the most important featherweight bouts of all-time — Carlsbad, California-based company No Fear, a high profile, longtime fixture in the world of alternative sports, formed a relationship with Faber.

“World Extreme Cagefighting and the WEC organization are not new,” says Britt Galland, No Fear Vice President of Marketing and the person who sought out Faber. “We had been keeping a very close eye on the WEC and we knew it was, as a sport, beginning to hit the mainstream and gaining mass acceptance as a genuine sport that millions of people truly enjoyed. To some, it may seem like a new sport, but we had been waiting for the appropriate time to step in and make a serious commitment to the property.”

Thus, when the time came, Galland, No Fear, as well as the No Fear Energy Drink, went looking for the 5’ 6”, 145-pound WEC Featherweight Champion from Sacramento, California named Urijah Faber.

“In the past, and with all the other sports we’d been involved with, we’d normally start at the grass roots level and work our way up. When we met Urijah, we knew he was perfect for us, and we decided to get the best that there is and work the other way. And when Urijah won the championship in Sacramento, well, we saw an immediate initial return on investment!”

Thrilled with the immediate feedback from Faber’s success — not to mention the strong bond the company felt with the “California Kid” — No Fear and No Fear Energy began looking for ways to further grow the both brands’ stature in the sport.

“After the Pulver fight, we knew right away that Urijah’s appeal was very broad and that he was a very marketable athlete,” says Galland. “So with that, recently, we recently produced a 30-second national television spot that is now in heavy rotation on the Versus network — the official network of the WEC. It’s just another example that we’re making a major commitment and adding more to our initial play with Urijah and the WEC.”

As a finishing touch, No Fear and the WEC further fortified the their working relationship by making No Fear Energy the Official Energy Drink of the WEC.

Next stop: November 5, 2008 and the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida where Urijah Faber (24-1-0) will defend his WEC Featherweight Championship against Mike Brown (19-4-0). The fight can be viewed live on the Versus network at 9 PM ET and 6 PM PT.