November 12, 2003 saw a 23-year-old Urijah Faber win his very first professional MMA fight, and on April 8, 2017, he was named as an inductee for the UFC Hall of Fame. The announcement was made during the pay-per-view portion of tonight’s UFC 210 card.
Faber announced his retirement after defeating his final opponent, Brad Pickett, this past December in Sacramento. Pickett just announced his own retirement three weeks ago in London, England.
Faber’s career was punctuated by winning titles under the promotional banners of Gladiator Challenge, King of the Cage and WEC. He won the WEC featherweight belt in 2006 and went on to defend it five times. During that time, he also won and defended the KOTC bantamweight belt twice.
Urijah wrapped up an exemplary career with a 34-10 record, and more importantly, he went out on a win. He never recaptured gold after losing his WEC featherweight belt to Mike Brown, but he would go on to compete in title bouts six more times, all entertaining and competitive performances. He won “of the night” honors 10 times.
Faber is the first UFC Hall of Fame inductee of 2017, and will be inducted during the official ceremony during International Fight Week this coming July. He will also be the first fighter set to appear in the “Modern Era Wing.”