Win propels Faber into UFC title mix
Urijah Faber has been knocked down but never out. Now, following another win over a top-10 opponent, the popular veteran is once again in the mix for an Ultimate Fighting Championship title shot.
Faber, who is 0-5 in his last five championship bouts but has 20 straight victories otherwise, proved that he remains among the best bantamweights in the sport, submitting Scott Jorgensen at 3:16 of the fourth round on Saturday night in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Faber, ranked No. 2 in UFC’s bantamweight division behind only champion Dominick Cruz (who is sidelined following knee surgery) and interim champion Renan Barao (who beat Faber last July for that belt), made a statement Saturday that he isn’t going anywhere. It was his second win in less than two months over a top-10 opponent; he submitted Montreal’s Ivan Menjivar at UFC 157 in February.
“I’ve known for a long time how tough Scott is, but I got to taste that firsthand just now,” Faber (28-6) said after the win on Saturday.
The two have been friends for more than a decade. They’ve trained together and each considers the other a friend. They share the same management team.But that was forgotten about while they were inside the cage together.
“He got me with some good punches. We were going back and forth,” Faber said.
“He made a small mistake and I was able to capitalize,” Faber said.
The pair traded blows in the pocket and also engaged in worldclass grappling scrambles, but Faber always seemed to be just a touch quicker getting in and out of the exchanges through three rounds. Faber then sealed the win in the fourth. Shooting in for a takedown, Faber took Jorgensen’s back and locked in a rear-naked choke. Jorgensen (14-7) tried desperately to outlast the hold, but the arm was firm on the neck and he was forced to tap out.
“I hope you all understand I just went in there to knock out a friend and came up short,” wrote Jorgensen on his Twitter account.• Undefeated underdog Cat Zingano (8-0) scored a hotly-debated stoppage at 2:55 of the third round over former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate (13-4) to earn a women’s bantamweight title shot against champion Ronda Rousey (7-0) later this year and also a coaching slot opposite Rousey on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Tate used a wrestling-based attack to control much of the first two rounds, but Zingano battled back with a brutal barrage of punches and knees to earn a TKO win.
“I looked up to Miesha since I started this sport,” Zingano said. “I was scared to death of her.”
Zingano, who openly wept on her way to the cage, said she experienced a wide range of emotions on Saturday night. It was just the second women’s bout in the history of UFC.“I was still really surprised that I was here and that I was actually competing in the octagon. I was in a daze. I just thought about my son and thought about my mom and thought about everything I’ve done to get here in my life. ... it got me woken up.” and it’s exactly where I’m supposed to be, and it just got me started, it got me woken up. I wanted to finish this fight and I did.”
Tate vocally protested the referee’s decision, saying she wasn’t badly hurt and was still defending herself. “I don’t for one second feel it should have been stopped,” Tate said.
• Kevin Gastelum went being from the final competitor picked during team selections on The Ultimate Fighter 17 to the last fighter standing.
The 21-year-old Gastelum (5-0) became the youngest winner of TUF in the series’ 17-season history with a surprising split-decision win over heavy favourite Uriah Hall (7-2). All three judges scored the match 29-28, with two siding with Gastelum.
“I’m speechless right now. Obviously I’m happy but I’m kind of hurting because it was a tough fight,” Gastelum said.
Hall insisted throughout the prefight buildup he was not buying into the hype created by his four devastating wins on The Ultimate Fighter 17 TV series, but that didn’t seem to be the case as he repeatedly dropped his hands and shuffled his feet in showboating fashion. Gastelum wasn’t bothered by the antics, and he consistently worked a clinch game and wrestling attack to secure dominant positions.
When the fight was upright, Hall proved repeatedly that he was the faster, more powerful striker. But he was never able to land clean, and Gastelum continuously pushed the action to the canvas, where he racked up points from top position.
With the crowd on its feet throughout the 15-minute affair, the action went back and forth until the final bell, where an emotional Gastelum was awarded a split-decision, earning him the TUF 17 tournament win and a six-figure UFC contract.