Urijah Faber still interested in UFC return to face fellow WEC veteran: 'I'm down for a good time'

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Urijah Faber hasn’t forgotten about Cub Swanson’s callout.

The former WEC champion and UFC title challenger is still interested in making a return to the octagon to answer Swanson’s callout from early January. Swanson, who defeated Darren Elkins in December, suggested a potential drop to 135 pounds and showed interest in a fight with Faber.

“The California Kid” is open to fighting again in the UFC, especially now that fans are able to attend events inside arenas again. Faber is not keen on fighting in a small venue such as the UFC’s Apex in Las Vegas.

“It’s been two years since coronavirus hit and since I’ve fought and I wasn’t going to fight without a crowd,” Faber told MMA Junkie. “And now that crowds are back, I love Cub a lot. I think he’s a guy I respect. We were almost going to fight a couple of times and we were very close to a fight.

“So if I was going to come back and do it, that would definitely be an exciting fight and a fight that would get me excited. I have to have everything. I need to have the right fight, the crowd. It’s got to be an experience for me. Nothing guaranteed. I think he had a broken hand at the time and I haven’t hit training like a regimen. I’m always in good shape. There’s something that could happen, absolutely.”

Faber is not looking to make a sustained return to competition, but if the right circumstances are in place, the 42-year-old is down to do the dance once again.

“I’m down for a good time,” Faber said. “These experiences as you get older, even the fight against Yan and coming out of retirement in Sacramento, it’s just all icing on the cake. You have a good time, you get a little cash, you have something to focus on and train on, and you go out and do something you love. I’m not counting anything out.”