Urijah Faber set for comeback after disappointing loss to Mike Brown

By Brett Okamoto

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010 | midnight

Here's what happened to Urijah Faber during his loss to Mike Brown in their WEC featherweight championship fight last June.

In the first round, Faber says, he broke the fourth and fifth metacarpals of his right hand when he threw a punch that landed on top of Brown's head.

In his own words, the fourth metacarpal "snapped," and the fifth one "shattered." Not long after, the thumb on his left hand dislocated.

By the middle of the fight, it was clear that Faber could do nothing offensively besides throw elbows. His hands were injured to the point he had stopped using his right hand completely and had given up on trying to wrestle.

He ended up taking the fight the distance but dropped a disappointing decision.

"I was handicapped in a lot of different ways," Faber said. "You didn't get to see my wrestling with Brown. I had no hands."

Faber (22-3) will look to get back on the winning track Sunday against Raphael Assuncao (14-2) in the co-main event of WEC 46 in Sacramento, Calif.

Before he could get back to training, however, Faber had to undergo surgery to repair the damage to his right hand. The former featherweight champ says the procedure included inserting two metal plates and eight screws.

"It was frustrating," Faber said. "The whole process was frustrating. The fight was frustrating. The recovery was frustrating."

Making the loss even more frustrating for Faber was that it was Brown who had claimed the belt from him in November 2008.

Riding a 13-fight win streak at the time, Faber got caught in the first round of that fight when he attempted a standing, spinning elbow that Brown countered.

The fight was called a TKO win for Brown, but Faber still believes it was stopped too early and he was still defending himself at the time of the stoppage.

"He did a great job of capitalizing on my mistake, but I know in my heart I wasn't out of that fight," Faber said. "If you watch the replay, I was still protecting myself."

"It's hard to watch both of those fights with Brown."

Luckily for Faber, a win over Assuncao could launch him straight to another title shot.

That probably wouldn't have been the case if Brown had been able to successfully defend the belt against Brazilian phenom Jose Aldo at WEC 44 in November. But Brown looked completely outmatched in that fight, losing by TKO to Aldo in the second round.

With a new champion at the helm, both Faber and Assuncao would have a case for the next title shot with a win on Sunday.

Despite losing two of his last three fights — both to Brown — Faber remains the No. 3 featherweight fighter in the world by many news outlets, with Assuncao ranked not far behind.

"I can't say for sure, but I would assume this is a fight that would get one of us in there for the belt," Faber said. "I'm ranked No. 3 and Raphael is No. 5. I would love to have that shot."

While the WEC hasn't announced that the winner of the fight will be Aldo's next challenge, general manager Reed Harris says it's been mentioned a few times.

"We've definitely had that discussion," Harris said. "Ultimately it will be up to (matchmaker) Sean Shelby, but we had a discussion last weekend and that's something we'll look forward to doing."

Somewhat lost in the mix because of Faber's return is that Assuncao quietly has strung together six consecutive wins, including three first-round finishes.

The Brazilian fighter says he hasn't felt snubbed by the lack of attention on him leading up to the fight and he realizes Faber is well-deserving of the spotlight.

"He deserves to be where he's at," Assuncao said. "He's worked hard for it. But obviously, I didn't just get the opportunity. I've fought my way here. Everybody has a different personality though. I'm kind of quiet."

Assuncao won't find any love at ARCO Arena on the night of the fight. Sacramento is Faber's hometown, and he's always the star attraction.

While Assuncao says he has no problem fighting in his opponent's territory, he hopes he won't suffer with the judges because of it.

"It has to be held somewhere and I know it can't be in my backyard," Assuncao said. "But I've been saying in all the interviews that I hope it doesn't go to the decision, but if that happens I just hope that everything is fair. I hope the judges and the commission and everybody are fair."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Also follow him on twitter: LVSunFighting.