Urijah Faber and the Price of Pride

By MMAEdition on Dec 31, 1969 with Comments 0

Filed under: WEC

There are nights when toughness alone is enough. Then there are nights when it only makes things worse.

If there were any doubts that former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber is one of the gutsiest things on two legs, consider them now put to rest. Watching him grit his way through five brutal rounds in a losing effort against Jose Aldo on Saturday night was like watching a committed alcoholic belly up to the bar again and again. At some point your concern turns into awe, and then your awe turns into pity.

For Faber, that point might have been when he had to be carried into his corner between rounds. Or maybe it was when he found himself trapped in the crucifix position, absorbing punches and elbows to the head even as he stayed just active enough to prevent a stoppage. It would have been so easy to give up just then. All he had to do was stop moving for a few seconds and the punishment, which he had no chance to halt on his own, would have ended.