Just about every MMA fan would agree that Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, who will battle for the World Extreme Cagefighting title on June 7 at WEC 41, are the two best featherweights in mixed martial arts. But for a long time, a large contingent of MMA fans would have argued that Japan's Kid Yamamoto is actually the best.That changed Tuesday, when Yamamoto was defeated by the unheralded American Joe Warren. And although that result surprised most of the MMA community, Faber told me on Wednesday that it didn't surprise him.
Faber invited Warren to his gym in Sacramento to help him prepare to fight in MMA, and he said he could see that Warren -- a former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion -- had the athleticism to become an excellent MMA fighter.
"Joe came down here and trained with us for about a week and a half, and he was pretty raw when he came down here," Faber said. "But people are forgetting that he's been doing some of the most difficult training for pretty much his whole life. He's been one of the top guys in the world in one of the most difficult sports. So I wasn't that surprised he won. ... I thought it would go one of two ways: Either Kid Yamamoto would knock him out, or Joe Warren would win by decision, and Joe pulled it out."
By defeating Yamamoto, Warren advanced to the semifinals of Dream's featherweight tournament. Faber said he thinks Warren is unlikely to leave Dream for the WEC or any other American promotion any time soon, because he thinks Warren could make more money fighting for Dream than he would in the WEC.
"I think he'll probably stay in Japan," Faber said. "He's got a personality that I think could really catch on in Japan, and I think he's got a good thing going out there. American promotions aren't as good at paying people. Japan is better, especially for guys who are up-and-coming. I think Joe Warren is there to make some money."
A Faber-Yamamoto fight once would have been viewed as the biggest featherweight fight ever, and Faber acknowledged that he was hoping that if an American was going to beat Yamamoto, he could have done it himself.
"Unfortunately, I didn't get my chance to be the first American to beat him, but I think if that fight ever happens people would still want to watch it," Faber said.
The full FanHouse interview with Faber, which focused mostly on his rematch with Brown, is coming up on FanHouse.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
With Warren beating Yamamoto, it's clear that all the best small fighters are in North America.
the best small fighters are actually in Japan. The US has only faber and brown and warren. Kid would KO faber and brown and warren in a rematch. dont be a douch. Japan has had the best smal fighters for YEAAARS