‘All kinds of delusional reasons’… Why Urijah Faber believes he can upset Henry Cejudo at RAF 06

‘Triple C’ was an Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler before transitioning to MMA and becoming a dual-weight UFC champion. Naturally, many expect he’ll simply be too good for Urijah Faber in the main event of Real American Freestyle’s latest show.

Henry Cejudo’s career highlights

Is ‘Triple C’ one of the greatest combat athletes of all time?

• Olympic gold medalist
• Former UFC flyweight champion
• Former UFC bantamweight champion
• 1 of 4 fighters to hold two belts simultaneously

Urijah Faber relishes underdog role at RAF 06

“A matchup like this with Henry, he’s freshly retired, he’s eight years younger than I am, he’s an Olympic gold medallist,” Faber said during an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow.

“This is the kind of odds that I like to go against and challenge myself with.

“I’ve got all kinds of delusional reasons why I’m going to beat him.”

Faber plans to continue competing until he’s ‘old and crusty’, but accepts he’s only got a couple of years at the very top level.

‘The California Kid’ sees RAF 06 as the perfect chance to add another high-profile win to his glittering resume.

“I feel great,” Faber added. “I’m like an in-shape Daniel Cormier when he won his world championship – that’s what my dad-bod looks like right now.

“I believe in myself. Also, Henry won the Olympic gold at 121lbs. I don’t know many people who are 121lbs that are grown adult males. I’m definitely much bigger than that. I’m probably gonna have 10lbs on the guy, and I’m strong. I’m getting strong because I don’t have to cut.

“I’ve got all these things in my mind. Like, I think I’m gonna win.”

What is Urijah Faber’s relationship with Henry Cejudo?

Henry Cejudo was known for rubbing people the wrong way during his MMA career.

However, Urijah Faber insists he has nothing but love for the man he’ll face on Saturday night.

“It’s so funny because I love Henry Cejudo,” he said.

“That guy, he’s not afraid to be himself. ‘The King of Cringe’, whatever. I feel like maybe he lacked a little bit of self-awareness back in the day, but he was literally very huge royalty of wrestling. He didn’t know some of the stuff was cringey, and then he leaned into it, which I loved.

“I think his first visit to meet myself and our team was way before he was an MMA fighter. He was thinking about maybe boxing and going back into the Olympic pool to fight for that. We basically got to a point where he realized MMA was the logical path for him, and he went and ran with it and became one of the best-ever at that.

For me, I’ve got a lot of respect for the guy. I think he’s a crack-up. He makes me laugh on purpose and on accident, too. I don’t think he knows how entertaining he is half the time, but I enjoy having him as part of our sport. I know he’s a gamer, he likes to win, and that’s the same type of guy I am.”