Conventional wisdom held that Urijah Faber's loss to Dominick Cruz at UFC 199 marked the end of Faber's days as a championship competitor.
After all, while Faber's groundbreaking WEC featherweight title reign from 2006-08 paved the way for mainstream recognition of mixed martial arts' lighter weight classes, his track record since then hasn't been one to write home about.
With the unanimous decision loss to Cruz, Faber is 0-6 in title fights since dropping the WEC belt to Mike Brown, accounting for UFC, WEC, and UFC interim title shots.
But then, Faber has never been one to worry about conventional wisdom. On Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, the 37-year old Sacramento resident says he's not giving up on his dream of another world championship.
"How many guys have been able to stay on top for this long and be able to knock down contenders and get yourself in position for big fights at 135 and 145 pounds?" Faber said. "This all comes down to matchups."
Indeed, every time Faber has been knocked down, he's picked himself back up. He's 10-0 at 135 pounds in non-title fights during his UFC stint, and he'll return to action on a relatively quick turnaround when he meets up-and-coming Jimmie River at UFC 203. The way Faber sees it, with a couple more wins and a break here or there, he'll be right back into the thick of the title hunt.
"This is a game of millimeters and centimeters and I'm already poised and waiting for opportunities," Faber said. "That's why I don't shy away from, I fight guys that no one has ever heard of, I fought guys who are legends like Frankie Edgar. I love this fight game. I'm passionate about it, I feel great about it."
And if the Team Alpha Male founder is the only one at the moment who believes he'll get another title shot? He's okay with that.
"I'm excited," Faber said. "I'm poised to take any opportunity, I'm poised to keep myself in tip-top shape because that's what I love to do."
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