Urijah Faber content with upcoming retirement, but won’t rule out return

This Saturday, MMA legend Urijah Faber will compete in the last fight of his career. He will do so against England’s Brad Pickett on the main card of UFC on Fox 22, which will emanate from his hometown of Sacramento, California.

With his fighting career in the rear-view, Faber will shift his focus to managing Team Alpha Male, the world-famous gym he founded in his hometown. Though these duties will surely keep him plenty busy in his post-fighting life, Faber recently explained on UFC Tonight that he’s not willing to entirely rule out a return to competition down the road.

“I’m pretty content with what I’ve done,” Faber said of his career. “I wouldn’t rule out anything. But I’m planning on phasing it out and focusing on other things. I know it’ll be tempting. My focus is to hang it up. I’ll be super hands on, as a coach helping out, as a mentor for the next generation, helping build the brand and recruiting. We always had guys coming to us, but we’ll go find some people, too. I’ll be in there daily, hopefully not getting punched by Cody [Garbrandt] daily.”

Faber will enter this fight with Pickett on the first two-fight losing streak of his 43-fight career, having recently come up short in a title fight against reigning bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, and a then losing a unanimous decision to Jimi Rivera. Prior to this pair of losses, he defeated Frankie Saenz, lost to a decision to Frankie Edgar, and submitted Francisco Rivera and Alex Caceres. He’s 33-10 overall.

Pickett, meanwhile, will enter the bout having recently given up a first-round submission to Iuri Alcantara. He proceeded this loss with a split win over Francisco Rivera, and three-straight losses to Thomas Almeida, Chico Camus and Ian McCall. He’s 25-12 in sum.

Do you think this bout will really be the last of Faber’s career, or will he make a return to action somewhere down the road? Sound off, PENN Nation!