When Henry Cejudo called out Urijah Faber following his TKO win over Marlon Moraes at UFC 238, we assumed it was the first time he called him out. Not so fast, says Faber, who returned the favor by calling out Cejudo following his upset win over Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento.
According to the UFC Hall of Famer, the bad blood between these two goes way back. The former WEC champ says that Cejudo vs. Faber is a fight a decade in the making.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, “The California Kid” said that Cejudo was at Team Alpha Male 10 years ago when he first mentioned to Faber he wanted to fight him. Keep in mind this is well before Cejudo started his career as an MMA fighter.
“Henry actually called me out 10 years ago, in person, before he started fighting,” Urijah Faber said. “He was in my gym training and he said, ‘What do you think? Maybe you and me will fight some day Faber.”
Even though at that point Faber was established as one of the top MMA fighters on the planet and Cejudo hadn’t yet transitioned to MMA from wrestling, Faber took the call out seriously.
“When you’re dealing with an Olympic champion like that, someone who believes in himself, I didn’t take that as a joke,” Faber said. “I took that as, this guy is thinking about fighting the best guy in the world and that was me at the time.”
A lot has changed since then. Urijah Faber is now 40-years old and no longer a champion, while Cejudo is both the UFC flyweight and bantamweight champions. Still, Faber holds a long-time grudge against Cejudo and he wants this fight bad.
“The tables have turned at this point. He’s the best guy in the world and I want to fight him,” Faber said. “It makes sense. I’ve been a high-level champion fighter my entire career, and stepped out on that note on a big win against a very tough guy (Brad Pickett) and competing for a championship. (Fighting Cejudo) yeah that’s something I want to do.”
Urijah Faber mentioned that he wants to fight Henry Cejudo this November at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Cejudo is currently on the sidelines injured, but once he’s healthy expect the trash talk to really ramp up between these two rivals until the UFC books the fight.
Will Urijah Faber get his wish and fight Henry Cejudo for the belt later this year?