For those missing Hall of Famer Urijah Faber, you can see The California Kid back in action this coming Saturday in Sacramento. He’ll be fighting in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 155 against a fighter 14 years his junior in the form of Ricky Simon. Will Faber make an explosive return to the Octagon? Or will Simon spoil Faber’s comeback trail?
The itch to come back into the Octagon and fight again was too much for Faber to decline an offer to be part of UFC Fight Night 155. The last time Faber fought was in 2016, when he scored a unanimous victory over Brad Pickett. That was following back-to-back losses to Jimmie Rivera and Dominick Cruz in a title fight. Faber wants to show everyone that he’s still got some gas left in his tank. Fighting for at least one more match also means that Faber can add to his sizable collection of submission victories. Faber has 17 wins by way of submissions. Conversely, he yet to be submitted in his career, showing just how tough and skillful The California Kid is when he’s on the mat. Although he’s already 40 years old, and understandably diminished in some areas of the fight game, it’s hard to underestimate Faber’s experience. Faber has been in 19 title fights, a total that can’t even be sniffed at this moment by Simon. Being away from the Octagon for 30 months might also have benefited Faber’s’ body, as he’s going to fight again fresh and without any issue on his body.
Simon has earned this kind of fight with a legend. Since starting his MMA career way back in 2014, Simon has only lost once. That was in 2016 in a title fight with Anderson Dos Santos during Titan FC 37. Since then, Simon has racked up one victory after another. In his most recent fight, he defeated Rabi Yahya via unanimous decision. Simon is ripe for a big-time fight, and a match against Faber, albeit one who could turn out to be just a shell of his former self, is very much deserved. Simons is a busy and aggressive fighter that averages 2.68 significant strikes landed per minute on 40.97 percent accuracy. His defense also holds the key in his fight with Faber. Simon has avoided 73 percent of his opponents’ takedown attempts in his UFC career thus far. Not to be underestimated is Simon’s power. In his UFC debut, he knocked out Merab Dvalishvili in April of 2018.
