CARLSBAD, CA — No Fear Energy will be watching the action this Sunday night as their sponsored mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, Joseph Benavidez puts his undefeated record on the line at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Benavidez will square off in the cage against San Diego transplant Dominick Cruz, whose record (13-1) has only one blemish — a submission loss at the hands of Urijah Faber in March 2007. As the fight card’s co-main event, the Benavidez-Cruz bout will directly precede the World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC®) bantamweight title fight between reigning champ Miguel Angel-Torres (36-1) and undefeated challenger, Brian Bowles (7-0).

The 24-year-old Benavidez (10-0) came to the WEC promotion in December 2008 with a lot of hype due to his raw talent and impressive previous performances, and he immediately lived up to the expectations with a big win over Danny Martinez. On April 5th of this year, Benavidez added Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran to his list of victims — by unanimous decision — in front of Curran’s home crowd in Chicago.

Benavidez trains at Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness gym in Sacramento, California. Sunday night’s clash against Cruz should prove a pivotal step on his quest for a title fight. A win could garner a match-up with one of the other two top bantamweight (135 lbs.) contenders on Sunday night’s card — Brian Bowles or Japan’s Takeya Mizugaki, who proved to be a formidable opponent against Torres when the two warriors went the distance in Chicago in April. (more…)

For those who doubt the legitimacy of Urijah Faber’s right hand injury last Sunday when he lost to Mike Brown in their rematch on WEC 41, here’s an X-Ray photo Urijah posted on his Twitter after the fight. The photo speaks for itself.

It’s remarkable how Faber was able to finish the fight after breaking his hand in the first round given the condition it was in. Not to take anything away from Brown though, both men fought valliantly in what a lot of people consider as an instant classic.

Faber will have surgery on his right hand today Tuesday, June 9 to repair two broken bones.

Text courtesy of Indianapolis Fight Sports Examiner

Jun-4-2009
Faber Vows To Find A Way: ‘I Just Have To Beat Him’
By Frank Curreri

Somewhere inside of Urijah Faber’s psyche, behind that million-dollar smile and perpetual surfer boy cool, it
must be eating at him that someone other than himself has been “The Man” in the featherweight division for the past seven months. Faber has never publicly uttered a harsh or unflattering word about Mike Thomas Brown, the human battering ram who dethroned him, but playing second fiddle to another man in the MMA realm has to bother a man of Faber’s uncompromising standards of excellence and Alpha male instincts.

Until a monster right hand by Brown short-circuited its target (and a barrage of heavy punches ensued and ended Faber’s 18-month title reign), Faber had been an emerging golden boy in the sport, widely regarded as the premiere 145-pound mixed martial artist on the planet. The words “former champion” now inconveniently reside on his resume, but Faber still has a champion’s extreme ego, mentality and drive. And on Sunday in Sacramento, his hometown, Faber will have a chance to feed that ego, pad his legacy, silence his doubters and bump Brown from the top spot.

“I had the belt for a long time and I’m eager to get some redemption here,” said Faber, who previously defended the belt five times.

To avenge defeat, Faber didn’t see a need to make sweeping changes in his training regimen or mental preparation. He has more or less tinkered with his system and pledged more caution in the cage this time around against his thunder-fisted adversary.

“I think the biggest thing is I have to be a little more careful,” said Faber, who precipitated his own demise against Brown by throwing a high-risk spinning elbow that left his chin alone on an island. “The last time I got caught for being careless. I sort of live by the sword and die by the sword. He’s one of the best fighters in the world so I need to be on my game and not make a mistake. But I still want to be aggressive and let it all hang out.” (more…)

WEC featherweight Urijah Faber threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Oakland-Seattle baseball game on Tuesday, May 26. The Sacramento native, preparing for his June 7 rematch with Mike Brown, took in the game with several of his training partners and watched as Oakland rallied late to beat Seattle 4-3.

May-6-2009

WEC featherweight star Urijah Faber is featured in a seven-page spread in this month’s edition of Fight! Magazine. In a piece penned by Fight! Editor Donovan Craig, Faber talks about life as one of Sacramento’s sports stars, as well as the camaraderie felt amongst members of the Faber-founded Team Alpha Male. Check out Faber in this month’s edition of Fight! Magazine on newsstands now.

FORMER WEC® FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMP URIJAH FABER TO THROW OUT FIRST PITCH

Apr-30-2009
‘The California Kid’ to Test His Fastball from the Mound of the 2008 California League Champion Ports

Las Vegas, NV (USA) –World Extreme Cagefighting® featherweight star Urijah Faber will throw out the first pitch at the Stockton Ports game against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Friday, May 8 at 7:05PM PST. Faber, a native of nearby Sacramento, will be also on hand to meet Ports players and watch the reigning California League champions take on the Quakes. A special fireworks presentation will follow the game. The Ports are the Class A Advanced affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.

Gearing up for his epic rematch with WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento on June 7, Faber is excited to take a break from training camp and test his pitching skills.

“I’m excited to throw out the first pitch at the Ports game,” Faber, who boasts a professional record of 22-2 and is considered one of the most dominant 145-pound fighters of all-time, said. “They are a championship team and I’m looking to get my belt back, so it’s only fitting that I take the mound there.”

WHERE: Banner Island Ballpark
404 W. Fremont St. Stockton, CA 95203

WHEN: Friday, May 8, 2009
First Pitch: 7:05 PM PT

From ARCO ARENA in Sacramento, California, Sunday, June 7; First Bout at 3 p.m. PT Fight to Air Live on VERSUS at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT

Tickets Go On Sale Thursday, April 2, at 10 a.m. PT

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – On Sunday, June 7, World Extreme Cagefighting® returns to the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, CA with one of the most anticipated rematches in mixed martial arts history: Brown vs. Faber II. Looking to prove that his title win in 2008 was no fluke, WEC® featherweight champion Mike Brown defends the crown against former 145-pound king Urijah “The California Kid” Faber.

Tickets for Brown vs. Faber II go on sale Thursday, April 2 at 10 a.m. PT and will be priced at $40, $75, $135, and $200.  A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to WEC newsletter subscribers on Tuesday, March 31 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the WEC newsletter through wec.tv. Tickets may be purchased by calling Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting the ARCO Arena Box Office. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

Presented by Bud Light^®, Brown vs. Faber II will be televised nationally live on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.  All of the network’s live WEC events are presented in HD and Spanish language SAP where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

After shocking the world last November with a first round technical knockout of then-champion Faber, Brown has cemented himself as one of the toughest fighters in the sport. In his last fight in March, the American Top Team-trained Brown steamrolled highly-regarded challenger Leonard Garcia, dropping the Texas native with menacing strikes before submitting him in just under two minutes. That win, coupled with victories over Faber and perennial contender Jeff Curran, has Brown riding a nine-fight winning streak. Now, the Maine-born Brown looks to prove that his win over Faber had nothing to do with luck. (more…)

CARLSBAD, CA — No Fear’s involvement in the booming sport of Mixed Martial Arts will draw attention to its retail apparel business this weekend. On Saturday, January 24, the final day of the Action Sports Retailer Expo at the San Diego Convention Center, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC®) Welterweight Champion, Carlos Condit will be at the No Fear Booth signing autographs from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Condit has dominated the WEC’s 170 pound weight class with a professional fight record of 21 wins and only four losses.

On Sunday, January 25, the day after the ASR Expo wraps up, WEC® will host their first ever event at the San Diego Sports Arena. The lineup features two furious match-ups: A World Lightweight Championship fight between Jamie Varner and undefeated Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone as the main event, and the much anticipated rematch between No Fear Energy backed Urijah Faber and former UFC® champion Jens Pulver as the co-main event. Tickets are still available online via Ticketmaster or at the San Diego Sports Arena box office.

No Fear Energy to Host a Private Urijah Faber Party After the Fight
To close out a huge weekend of ASR and MMA, No Fear Energy will host a private “Urijah Faber After Party” at the Belo nightclub, located at 919 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego. The party is by invitation only, but fight fans can get a chance to be put on the guest list by sending an email to NFENERGYGUEST@NoFear.com The party will feature an open bar from 9:30 to 10:30, and DJ FishFonics of WildFish Entertainment will be spinning the decks and keeping the beat. (more…)

Certainly not your typical, everyday autograph signing, on Saturday, January 17 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, World Extreme Cagefighters Urijah “The California Kid” Faber and Jamie “C-4” Varner (how’s that for a nickname?!) will join current 2009 AMA Supercross Series Championship points leader Josh Grant and teammate Cody Cooper for a Cagefight of an autograph signing. The signing will begin at 5:00 P.M. sharp beneath the awning of the JGRMX 18-wheeler in the Anaheim pit area. Varner — with a combined record of 15-2-0 — is poised to defend his WEC lightweight championship belt against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the San Diego Sports Arena on Sunday, January 25. No Fear supported fighter Faber, meanwhile, at 21-2-0, is hard at work preparing to earn back his World Featherweight Championship belt. “I’m a major fighting fan,” says Josh Grant, who won the opening round of the series at Anaheim on January 3. “I’m excited about hanging out with the guys and signing autographs for the fans with them.”

For more info visit www.nofear.com and www.wec.tv