The biggest star in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting fought for the promotion for the final time at WEC 52, and it went just as planned, as Urijah Faber choked out Takeya Mizugaki with just seconds remaining in the first round.

"This guy's known for going to the very end, so I knew I had to do something drastic to put him out," Faber said afterward. "That's what I did."

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In the early part of the round Mizugaki was holding his own in the stand-up with Faber, but Faber is a more well-rounded fighter than Mizugaki, and it was only a matter of time before Faber took Mizugaki's back with a minute to go in the first round and attempted a rear-naked choke. Faber started the choke from a standing position, re-positioned it when they fell to the ground, and squeezed tightly until Mizugaki -- who never tapped out -- was unconscious.

The referee was a little slow to stop the fight once Mizugaki went out, and for a moment there was a scary scene with an unconscious Mizugaki on the mat, but he quickly came to and appeared to be fine.

"I wanted to finish," Faber said. "We're going to the UFC after this. It's been an awesome run in the WEC and it's time to step it up and get my belt in the UFC."

The win was Faber's first as a bantamweight, and he will now move into the UFC bantamweight division, most likely as its No. 1 contender. Faber's star is on the rise once again, and his star will shine even brighter in the UFC.
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