Though Michael McDonald and Urijah Faber have always been friendly with one another, when they won on the same night in Boston back in August it looked pretty inevitable that they'd meet in the Octagon. And, though Faber is nearly a dozen years the senior of the 22-year old McDonald, the veteran was up to his old tricks on Saturday night.
Faber, the popular one-time WEC featherweight champion, choked out McDonald at 3:22 of the second round.
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The "California Kid" was able to get McDonald on his back almost immediately, and went to work with dropping punches through "Mayday's" guard. McDonald, who has a triangle in his arsenal, wasn't able to get much going off his back. Then again, neither did he panic. He forced a stalemate midway through the first round that prompted referee Herb Dean to stand them up. From there both McDonald and Faber traded punches -- Faber getting the better of them -- until the round closed.
Then Faber took over. He landed a huge right hand that staggered McDonald in the second round, and followed that up with a head kick, but was cooled when McDonald slammed a counter home. Turns out it was a temporarily reprieve for McDonald. Faber went on the offensive again a short time later, this time exploding with a right hand to the temple, before putting the hurt on him across the cage. He landed another short right that put McDonald on his belly, and then pounced for his signature guillotine. Moments later, McDonald tapped.
McDonald, with the loss, drops to 16-3. Faber (30-6) has now won four fights in a row, and or his career remains undefeated in non-title fights. Once again he is making a case for a title shot in the 135-pound division.