Urijah Faber extends streak to three with decision win over Iuri Alcantara
Aug 20, 2013, 2:51 PM | Updated: 2:52 pm
BOSTON — Nothing less than absolute domination was expected from UFC bantamweight Urijah Faber in his bout against Iuri Alcantara at UFC Fight Night 26 at the TD. After all, Faber was the former WEC featherweight champion, coming off back-to-back submission victories and sitting atop the 135-pound divisional rankings.
Aside from all this, Alcantara was far from a household name in the United States and would be competing outside of his native Brazil for the first time in his life. Faber, to his credit, spent the entire week praising his upcoming opponent for being one of the most dangerous fighters in the division. But even with Faber’s declaration that this fight would be closer than people were predicting, few fight fans saw this bout actually being competitive.
That all changed almost as soon as the referee signaled for their bout to begin, as Alcantara quickly threw Faber to the canvas and mounted the “California Kid.”
“The beginning of the fight was pretty intense and he was catching me with some really big punches,” said Faber. “I must’ve made some sort of mistake or slipped and he ended up in a great position pretty quickly.”
But even with the punches raining down, Faber maintained his composure and reminded everyone why he has long been considered one of the best in the world, as he quickly erased the image of him on his back with back-to-back dominant rounds to close out the fight.
Utilizing powerful takedowns and a smothering top game, Faber battered Alcantara for almost 10 minutes straight en route to a dominant decision victory. After the fight, Faber quickly praised the young Brazilian for bringing out the best in him.
“In my corner between rounds my jaw was hurting and it pissed me off,” said Faber. “Lots of respect for Iuri, he’s a tough guy and it was a great fight.”
With his win streak extended to three, it will be hard for the UFC not to grant Faber yet another title shot, but the Sacramento native isn’t concerning himself with championship thoughts as he plans to head back west to recuperate before deciding what his next career move will be.
“I’m going to relax with my family for a couple weeks and live the good life in Sacramento then it’s back to work preparing for whoever is next,” Said Faber.
