Can We Ask You a Faber?

Urijah Faber—if you don't know that name, you probably should. He's the Randy Couture of the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), minus 100 pounds or so, and he's getting ready to add another victim to his 21-1 record. Before taking on Mike Brown this Wednesday on Versus, the world featherweight champion chatted with us about hummus dip, fighting off a horde of white supremacists, and the upcoming Obama-McCain cage match.

You were raised holistically, meaning that you take natural herbs instead of medicine and that you rely on a strict diet without fast food. I actually ate some KFC last night. It was really delicious. Why do you hate the Colonel so much?
I wouldn't say I hate the Colonel. I'm just not a big fan of fast food. You know, a lot of times it's a quick fix and it's not the healthiest. I think overall Americans probably eat too much fast food. I don't hate it and I'm not opposed to eating it. I just don't really crave that kind of stuff.

So, on a regular day, what sort of things do you eat?
I eat a ton during the day. I have a lot of calories I have to fit in so I'm anywhere from 3800 to 5000 calories a day. I eat a lot, just about anything—a lot of Japanese, Mongolian, Greek, Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai. A lot of vegetables and lean meats.

Is it possible to see you walking down the street, stuffing your face with a gyro?
Definitely—with some hummus dip, some pita. For sure.


You're in the featherweight division—is there any difference training for that weight class than, for example, heavyweight?
There's no difference really. We're all training for the same stuff, it's just how intense and how technical your training is. I would say the top guys are all doing fairly similar things. We're little bit more high pace and a little bit faster but we're all trying to do the same thing.


Your last fight was against Jens Pulver, which many think was the match of the year. It was also the first time you ever endured a five round match in your career. What sort of things did you learn about your technique or your training that you can apply to upcoming fights?
I just realized that a five round fight takes a toll on your body and it's harder to recover, so better to finish it fast. I felt like I was pretty on target with my training. I felt pretty well-conditioned and I was able to think. So, I would say more than anything, it increased my understanding that the faster you get it done, the faster you recover. Keeping that in mind, I've kept preparation the same.  

You're fighting Mike Brown in your next fight. What sort of things are you looking out for in this upcoming fight?
Physically, he's a really strong guy and he's got a solid jiu-jitsu game that he uses mostly to isolate guys and punish. He's got some good chokes and anacondas and stuff like that with the head and the arm. So I'll just be really aware of that stuff and try to impose my will upon him. I'm a real hard guy to hold down so I hope that's not his plan.

You're a veteran of the sport now. You're twenty-nine, you've got a couple dozen fights under your belt. Is there any advice you would give anyone that's up-and-coming in the sport?
Yeah, I would say surround yourself with the best people possible, not only in training, but in life in general because it's easy to get distracted. The more success you have, the more weirdoes jump out and try to get in your back pocket. That, and understand that you have to be patient in this sport. Too often guys just want to jump into the limelight and don't understand that you gotta put in your time in this sport. It's a long road.

I've been reading everywhere that you have this Bali story of you being chased all around Indonesia and fighting off some sketchy people. What other good bar story can you share with us?
Yeah, I've had a couple other fights like that. One time I was in San Diego. There was a bunch of white supremacists. I was walking with my two Jewish buddies that wrestled with me at UC Davis. We were just making a comment about this one lady who had a foot-by-foot sized swastika on her back. I was just like, "Man, check it out. That lady has a swastika on her back." And my buddy was like, "Man, that's crazy." We were just talking about it. And her son, who looked like she must have had him when she was fourteen because she looked like she was the same age, was walking behind us with his two buddies and he says, "Yeah, that's my mom." He kept mouthing off and ended up jumping my buddy. We ended up fighting those guys. There were four of us versus like eight of them and four of them got knocked out and that was it. The rest stopped.



They didn't know who you were, did they?
No. They didn't know. That was in San Diego. They had the big softball convention and there's all sorts of characters out there. That was on the walk back to the car, man. Pretty funny.

So I saw you visited the troops in Afghanistan over the summer. What was that like?
It was kind of crazy. I got a real inside look at what was going on over there and it was great to go support the troops and shoot some cool guns and fly a bunch of helicopters, hang out the back of some of those helicopters and cargo planes. It was a really good experience.

If there was a cage fight between John McCain and Barack Obama, who would win?
Mental toughness, I would say McCain. That guy's a P.O.W., right? If it's a sport fight, I would give the fight to Obama, but if it's a fight to the death, I'd give it to McCain.

How long have you been training and fighting?
I've been training in wrestling since about the eighth grade and then I wrestled all of the way through college. I did a year or two in karate when I was in the third grade. Then, as far as straight MMA training, I started that after I graduated from college in 2003, so it's been five years.

Do you still learn anything when you're training?
Yeah, I'm still learning. There's so much knowledge out there and you see a lot of these guys at their prime when they're older in the sport because they are learning so much. I'm always trying to learn. I've got B.J. Penn's book, Aoki's instructionals. I brought in Hobson Mora because he submitted me out in Vegas with some cool stuff. So I flew him out and picked his brain. I've got my Muay Thai instructor. I'm still perfecting my kicks and elbows and knees and striking so there's a ton of stuff to learn. I think my best days are still ahead of me.

You've met a ton of people during your fights and your training, but if you could sit down and have a beer with anyone in the world who would it be?
One guy that I really look up to is probably Ramon Dekker. I like the way that guy fights and I think it would be interesting to get his take on things and find out more about him because he looks like a freaking wild man when we fights. You have no idea where that guy comes from. He's also from Holland and my whole family is from Holland on my dad's side. Full blood Dutch on that side.



What was the last movie you saw and what did you think of it?
I'll be honest with you man. I'm like out of reality and in my own world these days. I don't watch TV or anything. I have people trying to talk to me all day long. I went and saw a movie. I can't remember. It was a chick flick though. I went with a girl.

Well, that's better than nothing. At least you got something out of that, right? Wink, wink, nudge nudge.
Yeah, that's right. [Laughs]