Fans wonder why an athlete as dominate as Urijah Faber – whose only loss came in September of 2005 – would stay in the WEC instead of jumping to the better known UFC. The answer is simple: He has to.

The UFC doesn’t offer a 145-pound weight class. And he’s the main reason it doesn’t.

“I’m a small 145-pounder,” Faber said. “The next weight class up is 155 and that’s what they have in the UFC.

“The way this sport has been, it’s a business. I had an offer to fight in the UFC and another offer in one of these brand new organizations some time back. It was the WFA (World Fighting Alliance), and at that time, was for three times the money and they were going to make a weight class for me at 145. So instead of going to the UFC for chicken scratch and fighting guys bigger than I was, I took this other opportunity with a lot more money. But that show went out of business directly after their first show.”

So Faber landed back in the WEC with an extensive fight contract. When Zuffa LLC, which also owns the UFC, eventually purchased the WEC (and the WFA) in late 2006, it owned Faber’s contract, but instead of sending him to the UFC, it used him – and still does – to help the WEC grow.

“Zuffa bought an organization that I already had the belt for in the WEC, and bought my contracted fights with the other organization,” Faber explained. “They want to turn the WEC into a rival with the UFC, and they said they wanted to use me as one of the vehicles to get them on top.”

A UFC pay-per-view event attracts millions of viewers each month. But the “Super Bowl of MMA” focuses on bigger weights, for now. So Faber makes his home in the WEC, where his fights are the biggest draw for the organization, and where he’s made his name as the man to beat in the featherweight division.

“I’m like a big fish in a little pond,” he said. “I’m probably one of the main draws out of the WEC.”

His next opponent, veteran Jens Pulver, fought at the UFC level at 155 pounds before deciding to drop back down to his natural 145-pound class – where he is 8-0 – to compete in the WEC. Fighting up a weight class to gain notoriety became difficult, as was apparent in back-to-back losses.

Although Faber knows he can compete with the 155-pounders, he’s happy right where he is, on top of a heap of talented athletes his own weight and still in the national spotlight.
“I’m just enjoying that I get to fight professionally, make a living, hang out with my buddies all day, eat good food and travel,” he said.

“I’ll fight in the UFC, the WEC, in the ABC, I don’t care,” Faber laughed. “Just give me some money and let me live the good life.”