urijah faber

Urijah Christopher Faber (born May 14 , 1979 in Isla Vista, California) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the World Extreme Cagefighting organization, where he is the former WEC World Featherweight champion. All major MMA ranking agencies listed Faber as the number-one Featherweight fighter in the World before his loss to Mike Brown.[citation needed] Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Mixed martial arts 3 MMA record 4 References 5 External links //

Biography

Faber was born May 14, 1979, in the college town of Isla Vista, California, a small community bordering the University of California-Santa Barbara, and raised in Sacramento. Faber was born at home with the help of a midwife and raised holistically, his parents refusing to give him immunization shots. To this day Faber has scarcely used conventional medicine and has maintained a lifestyle of healthy dieting and exercise habits.[2] Faber attended high school in Lincoln, a town of about 40,000 people.

Athletics have been a part of Faber's life since an early age, where he spent much of his childhood and teen years participating in football, roller hockey, and wrestling. After a successful high school career as a wrestler in Lincoln, California, Faber continued his wrestling along with his academics at the University of California-Davis.[3]

Although he did not enter college on a scholarship, he was awarded one after his freshman year on the wrestling team. His sophomore year, he was the starting 133-lbs wrestler for UC-Davis, a spot that remained his for the rest of his collegiate career. While wrestling in college, Faber became the all-time win leader for UC-Davis and a two-time NCAA Division I qualifier, finishing in the top 12 in 2002.[4] In freestyle wrestling, Faber competed in the University Nationals where he was a national runner-up, becoming the true alternate for the University Nationals World Team. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development, Faber stayed on staff at UC Davis as the lightweight wrestling coach and began his MMA career.[3]

Mixed martial arts

Faber is currently working with Andy Kay, a Muay Thai specialist from Thailand, and Joe Urias, a California native specializing in boxing, and continues to study under Cassio Werneck. Faber has also trained with UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn.

Faber made his professional MMA debut as part of the Gladiator Challenge promotion on November 12, 2003, defeating Jay Valencia by guillotine choke at 1:22 of round 1. Faber then defeated George Adkins by TKO(strikes)