Urijah Faber Signs New UFC Deal

Urijah Faber has revealed that he’s signed a new deal with the UFC, despite a tough loss in his last trip to the Octagon.

The 40-year-old made an instant impression last year when he made a comeback from retirement and promptly TKO’d Ricky Simon in the first round, but the wind was then taken out his sails when he suffered a tough head kick KO loss against Petr Yan in his next Octagon outing.

Faber wasn’t sure what he was going to do after that setback, but it seems he still has enough interest in potentially continuing with his career to sign on the dotted line again with the UFC.

I told Dana I don’t want the temptation from all the other companies when I return from retirement,” Faber told Ag Fight. “So we renegotiated the contract. I still have some fights left, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll do one of them. We’ll see what opportunities come up. I’ll stay in shape, go to the gym and have fun.”

However, if he does make another trip to the Octagon Faber admits that it won’t be with the intention of fighting his way back into title contention, but rather just to get back to winning ways and then see where his options lie afterwards.

“Before I lost to Petr Yan, I wanted a title fight,” Faber said. “I was the underdog against the young prospect, number three guy in the world, I knew it would be a hard fight. For my next fight, if they give me an opponent that makes sense, I need to win again before I set my goals, be it a superfight against T.J. Dillashaw, or being able to take a title fight on short notice, or facing one of the big names in the division. You got Dominick Cruz, T.J., Jose Aldo, Henry Cejudo, Marlon Moraes and all the up and coming guys who haven’t made a name for themselves yet. It’s an interesting time and I’ll take my time and see what I feel in my heart. Those are the fights that interest me, but I need to win again before that.”

Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.