Urijah Faber to retire from MMA after final fight against Brad Pickett

          • Brett OkamotoOct 24, 2016, 07:14 PM ET
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              Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
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          One of the most, if not the most, iconic smaller weight fighters in mixed martial arts history intends to hang up his gloves at the end of the year.

          Former WEC featherweight champion and four-time UFC title challenger Urijah Faber, 37, announced on Monday he plans to retire following a Dec. 17 fight against Brad Pickett in Sacramento, California.

          Faber (33-10) is a longtime Sacramento resident and the founder of Team Alpha Male gym, which currently houses Chad Mendes, Cody Garbrandt and Paige VanZant, among others. A former collegiate wrestler, Faber made his professional fighting debut in 2003 and is universally credited for drawing early attention to smaller weight classes.

          "I've been teetering with [retirement] for a long time," said Faber during an appearance on "The MMA Hour." "The thing that I'm lucky [about], I have my health and I really love what I'm doing, but just as far as the passion goes -- I have passion for what I'm doing still, but it doesn't get the same emotion that it has in the past.

          "My favorite fighter of all time is Roy Jones Jr., and I remember them talking about him kind of feeling that -- where he was playing little basketball games the same day as a boxing match. [My last couple fights] I haven't found that emotional rise and fall. That is kind of a strange thing for me. I still love what I'm doing and that's the reason why I'm doing it, but I just feel like this is going to be something that's going to be an emotional thing for me."

          Faber was the face of the WEC earlier in his career. He won the championship at 145 pounds in 2006 and went on to defend it five times. His title reign included a submission win over now-UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in 2007.

          Between 2011 and 2016, Faber appeared in four UFC bantamweight title fights but came up short in each one. He suffered a close decision loss to Cruz at UFC 132 in a fight he since has said he thought he won. He also took a TKO loss against Renan Barao in 2014, even though he was showing a "thumbs-up" to referee Herb Dean at the time the bout was called.

          In 2012, Faber coached a season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series.

          Faber will face a fellow veteran in Pickett (25-12), who also fought in the WEC prior to joining the UFC. The televised event will take place at Sacramento's Golden 1 Center.