Urijah Faber explains decision to retire

This Saturday, MMA veteran Urijah Fbaer will step into the Octagon for the final time as he fights Brad Pickett in front of his hometown fans in Sacramento, California. For Faber, the fight will mark the end of what has been a truly remarkable MMA career that has seen him compile a 33-10 record over the course of 13 years competing professionally.

Given that it would be Faber’s final fight, it came as a surprise to many when the UFC opted to put ‘The California Kid’ as the co-main event behind Paige VanZant vs. Michelle Waterson as the main event.

During a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Faber spoke about his decision to retire at 37 years old, saying:

“I think without a doubt I’m physically where I need to be. The skill level is there.

“I think it’s just the emotion has been different as of late. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just that I’m immune to it, and I’ve always done this thing for the experience. I still enjoy it, but it’s just not the same. And I have a lot of other irons in the fire. It’s like risk (vs.) reward. It’s a very difficult life in here grinding everyday, fighting these young cats.”

Faber has been on a bit of a skid this year, going 0-2 over the course of 2016. To kick the year off, ‘The California Kid’ had a trilogy fight with Dominick Cruz, which Cruz won decisively. Most recently, Faber fought Jimmie Rivera at UFC 203 in September, where he dropped a unanimous decision, marking the first time in his professional MMA career that he has gone on a 2-fight skid. With that in mind, when it was revealed that Faber would be fighting Brad Pickett at ‘UFC Fight Night: Sacramento’, Faber announced his plan to retire after the fight.