[autotag]Urijah Faber[/autotag] may or may not be done from fighting.
Speaking on the latest edition of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Faber (35-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC), who suffered a third-round knockout loss at the hands of rising contender Petr Yan at UFC 245 on Saturday, admits he’s unsure what the future may hold.
But he will no longer be chasing the title.
“I’m not going to be pursuing the belt at this moment,” Faber said. “I’m going to be chilling with the family, staying in great shape, staying in the gym, and it’s a ‘I could or I couldn’t.'”
Faber got off to a decent start against Yan, but after getting dropped in the second round, the tide started to drastically turn. He was cut open and bloodied up, and it was all Yan from that point.
One minute into the third round, Yan caught Faber with a head kick that dropped him, and the referee decided that he had seen enough.
The 40-year-old Faber may have fallen short in his second fight back from retirement, but he insists he knew what he was facing.
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“I mean he’s very tough, but I knew he was tough,” Faber said. “I felt like he’s one of the most dangerous guys, period, in the division. I knew that going in, and that’s kind of why I wanted to fight – aside from the guys on my team, Song Yadong and Cody Garbrandt, are both faster and just as powerful and a little more well-rounded, but I knew that was going to be a nasty fight. I knew I would have a chance to catch him, but he had a very good chance of catching me.”
Despite the setback, the UFC Hall of Famer said he is not ruling out a return to the cage, and he is willing to compete again if the opportunity is big enough to lure him in.
“I’m not doing a fight just to have a fight,” Faber said. “I’ll do it on my terms if I want to do it to celebrate my birthday, or if there’s something that’s really intriguing.”
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