Urijah Faber returned to competitive action for the first time in several years in style at the weekend when he tapped out BJJ ace Jeff Glover in a combat jiu-jitsu match.
The 44-year-old Faber headlined the show at his own A1 Combat 21 event in California, which was aired on UFC Fight Pass and saw a spiced up version of a traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu match being utilized in which open-palmed strikes were allowed on the mat.
That wouldn’t be something that his 41-year-old opponent Glover would have been accustomed to in the past, but as a highly-decorated BJJ player it was still a contest that was well within his wheelhouse.
However, Faber is comfortable on the mat too and made judicious use of open-handed strikes against Glover early in the fight before slickly using the crucifix position to work for a rear-naked choke submission finish later on in the opening round.
A UFC hall-of-famer, Faber bowed out of competing in MMA back in 2019 after a head kick KO loss to Petr Yan, though he had won his previous two fights against Brad Pickett and Ricky Simon.
Faber fought for the UFC bantamweight title on no less than four occasions, twice against Dominick Cruz and twice against Renan Barao, but never managed to win the belt. However, earlier in his career Faber had been a dominant featherweight champion in the WEC promotion, successfully defending his title on five occasions.
Urijah Faber just submitted Jeff Glover.
You read that right.#A1Combat21 pic.twitter.com/TLV9NLuMjR
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 26, 2024
