UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber has released a statement following his brutal third-round KO loss to Petr Yan in the opening main card fight at UFC 245.

Faber was beaten to the punch by his much-younger opponent for the first two round before Yan was able to connect on a massive head kick and knock Faber out in the third round. It was a devastating setback for Faber, who came out of retirement over the summer and beat Ricky Simon in an upset win at UFC Sacramento back in July to surprisingly jump back into title contention at 135lbs.

Now 40, this loss to Yan is certainly a big setback for Faber as he took a lot of damage in this fight and showed his age in this loss to an opponent 14 years his junior. It’s the kind of loss that will make fans think that maybe Faber should hang up his gloves for good.

After the event, Faber was all class in congratulating Yan on an excellent performance. Here’s what “The California Kid” wrote on his Instagram following the event.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6FclligPNm/

““Look for opportunities not Guarantees” – Congrats to @petr_yan on a great performance! This was a continuation of my 40th birthday present to myself…talk about feeling alive. Im sure we will be battling Petr for the next decade or so at @teamalphamalemma, gonna be fun. Hope everyone enjoyed the fight.”

It’s a classy message by Faber in defeat, but what else did you expect from one of the classiest fighters to ever step into the Octagon? For years, Faber has been the epitome of professionalism at its highest level in MMA, and this message for his fans and to Yan after UFC 245 is a continuation of that.

It remains to be seen what’s next for Faber, but after suffering such a bad loss, he’ll surely take some time off to heal up and be with his family before deciding what’s next for his MMA career.

What do you think is next for Urijah Faber following UFC 245?