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…)