At 46 years of age, UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber found his way back into the cage just moments ago in the main event of A-1 Combat 31 for a combat jiu-jitsu match against former opponent Francisco Rivera. In a rematch 12 years in the making, Faber was victorious via rear naked choke roughly three-and-a-half minutes into the match.
12 years is a long time, so modern fight fans could be forgiven for not knowing the back story here. Way back at UFC 181 on Dec. 6, 2014, Faber defeated Rivera via second-round rear naked choke. In that bout, Rivera won the first round before getting overwhelmed by a blitz and strangled. Unfortunately, post-fight replays revealed an eye poke at the start of the sequence, but a rematch was never booked … until now!
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Combat jiu-jitsu or not, Rivera finally got a second chance versus Faber on “The California Kid’s” home turf in Sacramento. He didn’t get revenge, however, as Faber dominated the match up to the submission finish.
Check out the highlights below:
Will Faber ever fight again in full MMA? Just last year, Faber signed with Global Fight League (GFL) and intended to fight another former rival in Renan Barao for a third time. Sadly, GFL imploded well before any fights actually happened, so Faber’s retirement from full cage fighting continued on. At the moment, there are no public plans for Faber to fight again.
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If the right offer materializes, however, Faber returning once more is always a possibility. At a bare minimum, he’s scheduled to wrestle Henry Cejudo at RAF 6 in just a few weeks!
