Urijah Faber recently hinted that he would like to come out of retirement, and now it appears those plans are more concrete.
In a recent interview with UFC analyst Dan Hardy, Faber confirmed that he has already accepted a fight. The Las Vegas-based promotion has not confirmed a date or opponent for Faber’s return, but the Hall of Famer previously indicated that he would like to fight at the upcoming UFC Sacramento card.
“Looking at today’s landscape, I just know that I can compete easily,” Faber told Hardy (via The Mac Life). “I’ve stayed in great shape. It sounds like fun and the reason I stopped is because I wanted to. The reason I’m coming back is I have decided I want to … I just accepted a fight yesterday. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be put out yet.”
Faber added that he had been encouraged to return to the sport by former two-division champion Conor McGregor in past conversations.
“Conor McGregor and I talk on occasion and he’s always, like, clawing at me, ‘Go get that snake! Go get that weasel!’ and you have other sentiment about that. ‘The story’s not over!’, you know? You know how Conor is. He’s hilarious,” Faber said. “We have little private conversations on occasions like that.”
Faber announced his retirement following a decision triumph over Brad Pickett at UFC on Fox 22 in December 2016, a card that also took place in Sacramento. “The California Kid” was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame’s “Modern Era” wing the following year.
UFC Sacramento takes place on July 13 at the Golden 1 Center and is expected to air on ESPN+. A headliner for the event has not been announced.