Urijah Faber Believes There Is No Bigger Bout For Him Than The Former Teammate TJ Dillashaw
UFC Hall of Famer and the former GC, KOTC, and WEC Bantamweight champ, Urijah Faber, is set to meet ex-LFA 135-pound champion Ricky Simon at UFC on ESPN+ 13, on July 13, 2019. But it seems “The Californian Kid” thinks about bigger bouts on the horizon.
Simon is not the greatest name but a win could help Urijah get a future fight with a former teammate turned bitter rival TJ Dillashaw, whose Bantamweight title was taken away because of positive tests on EPO. TJ trained at Team Alpha Male, but then he joined Duane Ludwig’s lead.
TJ’s rivalry with Urijah reached critical levels when “Viper” knocked out Faber’s student Cody Garbrandt in back-to-back bouts, at UFC 217 and UFC 227.
TJ Dillashaw was slapped with a two-year suspension, so the potential bout between “The Californian Kid” and “Viper” can’t happen before January 2021. Yet, Urijah Faber says he is open for the clash with his former teammate, but it depends on how his body feels at that point. (h/t MMAMania.com)
“I have to see how I feel. Where I feel right now, I feel pretty incredible. Who knows how I’ll feel at that time. I’ve always been kind of a late developer and someone who has always had good health. It’s all going to be about timing and me,” Urijah Faber said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “Now, if he comes back it will be a year and a half so that is not that long. We will have to see how that pans out.
“One of the reasons and Dana (White) has talked about also and I’ve talked to Murilo Bustamante and some of the other guys. The guys that don’t cheat, the guys that don’t do EPO, and HGH, and micro-dosing, testosterone or whatever the hell the kids are doing these days have a better longevity, joints. Just (your) body intact. You are operating as your body is supposed to. For me, I think that is part of the reasons why I have been in the top my entire career, the top echelon. The top-ten, the top-two, the top-three, the top-one my entire career.
So, I feel good. We will have to see at that point. When you think of big fights for me in the weight class, Kron was exciting because there is a lot of hype around him right now and the history of his family. But, there is no history like the T.J. Dillashaw history that’s for sure.”
Would you like to see Urijah Faber Vs TJ Dillashaw? It could be one of the greatest rivalry bouts!
