Urijah Faber’s decision to return to competition surprised former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who said the news caught him off guard considering Faber’s success outside of the Octagon.
The now 40-year-old Faber has been out of the sport since December of 2016, when he beat Brad Pickett in his hometown of Sacramento via unanimous decision in his farewell fight. The fan-favorite “California Kid” announced recently he had the itch to compete again and the UFC booked him opposite Ricky Simon on July 13 at UFC Sacramento.
Bisping, who is 40 as well and retired from competition in November 2017, said on a recent edition of his “Believe You Me” podcast that he was surprised that the former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion decided to come out of retirement, considering how well his business ventures appear to be doing.