Urijah Faber
It’s hard to leave off the list [autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag], a man responsible for the rise and popularity of the lighter-weight divisions. The former WEC featherweight champion failed to capture a UFC title on several attempts, but had a memorable chapter with arch-rival Dominick Cruz that helped build the UFC’s bantamweight division.
Faber handed Cruz his lone loss at the time early in his WEC career when he submitted him in the first round to retain the WEC’s featherweight title. Their rivalry spilled over to the UFC when WEC bantamweight champ Cruz was promoted to UFC 135-pound champ upon the introduction of the weight class to the promotion.
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His first title defense came against Faber, and he got his revenge in a back-and-forth battle in 2011. Faber earned another shot at the title with a submission win over Brian Bowles, but it was for the interim title against Renan Barao with Cruz sidelined due to injury.
Faber lost the fight to Barao, but went on to win his next four in a row and earned yet another shot at Barao. The third time was not the charm for Faber, who was stopped by Barao in the first round at UFC 169. He won three of his next four, though, and found an opportunity to close out the chapter with Cruz, who reclaimed his throne after a year and a half away.
Faber wasn’t able to get the job done and lost to Cruz for the second straight time by unanimous decision. While Faber may no longer be chasing gold, he’s still a staple in the division and a massive part of the traction of the lower-weight divisions.
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