Urijah Faber

Urijah Faber
Faber at Fight Night Round IV in Bellingham, Washington in 2009.
Born	Urijah Christopher Faber (1979-05-14) May 14, 1979 (age 37) Isla Vista, California, United States
Other names	The California Kid
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight	135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st)
Division	Bantamweight Featherweight
Reach	67.0 in (170 cm)
Style	Wrestling, BJJ
Stance	Orthodox
Fighting out of	Sacramento, California
Team	Team Alpha Male
Trainer	Thonglor "Master Thong" Armatsena Fábio "Pateta" Prado Martin Kampmann
Rank	Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Fábio "Pateta" Prado
Wrestling	NCAA Division I Wrestling
Years active	2003–2016
Mixed martial arts record
Total	44
Wins	34
By knockout	7
By submission	19
By decision	7
By disqualification	1
Losses	10
By knockout	3
By decision	7
University	University of California, Davis
Notable school(s)	Lincoln High School
Website	http://www.urijahfaber.com/
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Urijah Christopher Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist who fought as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Faber won the WEC Featherweight Championship at WEC 19 on March 17, 2006, and held the title for over two years until losing it to Mike Brown at WEC 36 on November 5, 2008. Faber is widely regarded as one of the sport's pioneers for establishing legitimacy to lighter weight classes in MMA.

Faber is an NCAA wrestler. With his excellent base in wrestling, he later started Brazilian jiu-jitsu and quickly gained a brown belt under Fábio "Pateta" Prado, who, under Carlson Gracie Jr., is a fifth degree black belt.

Faber was born on May 14, 1979, in Isla Vista, California, to Theo and Suzanne Faber, and grew up in Lincoln, California. He is of Dutch descent on his father's side, and Italian, English, and Irish on his mother's side. He went to Glen Edwards Middle School, Casa Roble High School and Lincoln High School (Lincoln, California). He has two siblings, an older brother named Ryan and a younger sister named Michaella Tastad. Faber graduated from the University of California at Davis with a bachelor's degree in Human Development. While at UC-Davis, Faber was a two time NCAA national qualifier, qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 2001 and 2002.

Faber made his professional MMA debut as part of the Gladiator Challenge promotion on November 12, 2003, defeating Jay Valencia by a guillotine choke at 1:22 of round 1. Faber then defeated George Adkins by TKO (strikes) on February 12, 2004, earning a shot at GC Bantamweight champion, David Velasquez. On June 6, 2004, Faber defeated Velasquez by unanimous decision, becoming the new GC Bantamweight champion. In his first title defense, Faber defeated Del Hawkins by TKO(strikes) at 3:19 of the first round on August 19, 2004. After this fight, Faber began to take fights in both GC and King of the Cage, GC's parent promotion.