This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Urijah Faber Celebrates No. 40
It seems safe to assume that the mixed martial arts world would look much different today had Urijah Faber not left his imprint on it. The Team Alpha Male founder and former World Extreme Cagefighting champion will celebrate his 40th birthday on May 14.
An Isla Vista, California, native, Faber wrestled collegiately at UC Davis, where he was a two-time national qualifier. His background as an amateur wrestler made for a natural transition to MMA. Faber debuted on Nov. 12, 2003, won 21 of his first 22 professional fights and captured titles in King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and the WEC. In the process, he became the face of the lighter-weight divisions. Two losses to Mike Thomas Brown signaled the end of his reign in the WEC but did little to diminish his star, as his entrances to “California Love” remained appointment viewing and he went on to headline the organization’s only pay-per-view event. Faber planted his flag in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2011, downshifted to 135 pounds and fought for the undisputed bantamweight crown on three different occasions, losing to archrival Dominick Cruz (twice) and Renan Barao. “The California Kid” retired following a December 2016 decision win over Brad Pickett, closing the book on his remarkable career with a 34-10 record.
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MAY 1
Kiichi Kunimoto, 38Chad Mendes, 34
Dakota Cochrane, 33
Liz McCarthy, 33
Anistavio Medeiros de Figueiredo, 31
David Teymur, 30
MAY 2
Garret Nybakken, 38Alberto Mina, 37
Kikuyo Ishikawa, 35
Alexey Kunchenko, 35
Alex Nicholson, 29
Justin Scoggins, 27
MAY 3
Sam Greco, 52Shonie Carter, 47
Pedro Rizzo, 45
John Makdessi, 34
Patrick Holohan, 31
Bryan Barberena, 30
Mariana Morais, 23
MAY 4
Victor Henry, 32Nate Williams, 31
Lemmy Krusic, 30
Roman Szymanski, 26
Erin Blanchfield, 20
MAY 5
Alex Schoenauer, 43Mizuto Hirota, 38
Steve Steinbeiss, 38
Lukasz Bugara, 33
Cortney Casey, 32
Bevon Lewis, 28
MAY 6
Luiz Jorge Dutra Jr., 37Brandon Visher, 35
Sam Alvey, 33
Akop Stepanyan, 33
Beneil Dariush, 30
MAY 7
Lodune Sincaid, 1973-2019Frank Trigg, 47
Kurt Pellegrino, 40
Ian McCall, 35
Jodie Esquibel, 33
MAY 8
Jorge Patino, 46Caol Uno, 44
Tatsuya Kawajiri, 41
Manny Gamburyan, 38
Jessica Aguilar, 37
Mikey Gomez, 37
Danillo Villefort, 36
Brandon Davis, 29
Julian Marquez, 29
MAY 9
Spencer Fisher, 43Antwain Britt, 41
Shinya Aoki, 36
Martin Stapleton, 36
Chuka Willis, 26
MAY 10
Anthony Perosh, 46Dave Lehr Cochran, 46
Yoshiyuki Yoshida, 44
Jackie Vandenburgh, 37
Cory Hendricks, 30
MAY 11
Jeremy Lang, 44Melvin Manhoef, 43
Magomed Sultanakhmedov, 35
Gilbert Jimenez, 34
Chas Skelly, 34
Joseph Sandoval, 33
Kamaru Usman, 31
Frankie Perez, 30
MAY 12
Louis Taylor, 40Damian Grabowski, 39
Maikel Perez, 36
Keri Melendez, 35
Junie Allen Browning, 34
MAY 13
Fredson Paixao, 40Yan Cabral, 36
Arjan Singh Bhullar, 33
Guilherme Viana, 33
Yusuke Yachi, 29
MAY 14
Urijah Faber, 40Tom DeBlass, 37
Artur Guseinov, 35
Rashid Magomedov, 35
Alvaro Herrera, 29
MAY 15
Shane DeZee, 42Josh Burns, 41
Tom Lawlor, 36
Kenji Yamamoto, 35
Brett Chism, 32
MAY 16
Hacran Dias, 35Darren Elkins, 35
Anthony Birchak, 33
Nazareno Malegarie, 33
Andre Harrison, 31
MAY 17
Matt Lindland, 49Cheick Kongo, 44
Alistair Overeem, 39
Dan Hardy, 37
Paul Bradley, 36
Rich Hale, 34
MAY 18
Muhsin Corbbrey, 41Gabriel Gonzaga, 40
Kazuhisa Watanabe, 36
Frank Camacho, 30
Maycee Barber, 21
MAY 19
Andre Gusmao, 42Wagner da Conceicao Martins, 41
Georges St. Pierre, 38
John Maguire, 36
Augusto Sakai, 28
Sergey Khandozhko, 27
MAY 20
Steve Berger, 46Roger Huerta, 36
Alexander Shlemenko, 35
Jinh Yu Frey, 34
Ramazan Emeev, 32
MAY 21
Bruce Buffer, 62Scott Smith, 40
Ricardo Lamas, 37
Aung La N Sang, 34
Renato Carneiro, 30
MAY 22
Murilo Rua, 39Tim Snyder, 39
Mark Oshiro, 36
Fumihiro Kitahara, 35
Joe Lauzon, 35
Keita Nakamura, 35
Teemu Packalen, 32
Steve Garcia, 27
MAY 23
Beau Baker, 40Aaron Miller, 39
Sean Loeffler, 37
Jordan Dowdy, 33
Myles Price, 31
MAY 24
Paulo Filho, 41Frank Mir, 40
Alex Serdyukov, 39
Josh Thornburg, 35
Emily Whitmire, 28
MAY 25
Brad Blackburn, 42Hudson Rocha, 38
Mark Anthony Serkez, 38
Ulysses Gomez, 36
Dan Lariviere, 36
Scott Askham, 31
Ben Fodor, 31
MAY 26
Kenny Florian, 43Rob McCullough, 42
Lyman Good, 34
Jeremy Stephens, 33
Ricky Steele, 31
MAY 27
Gideon Ray, 46Chris Cariaso, 38
Will Campuzano, 33
Diego Brandao, 32
Michael Hill, 32
Anthony Leone, 32
Geane Herrera, 29
MAY 28
Rory Singer, 43Andy Wang, 42
Aaron Rosa, 38
Brian Melancon, 37
Scott Heckman, 35
MAY 29
Travis Fulton, 42Mamoru Yamaguchi, 42
Georgi Karakhanyan, 34
Carlos Augusto Inocente Filho, 33
Steven Peterson, 29
MAY 30
Lyoto Machida, 41Yves Jabouin, 40
Ivan Menjivar, 37
Bart Palaszewski, 36
Amanda Nunes, 31
MAY 31
Akitoshi Tamura, 39Matt Veach, 38
Maria Rios, 36
Elias Theodorou, 31
Jessin Ayari, 27
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