UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is planning a huge project in the world of MMA which he hopes will give kids a clear pathway into the sport.
The 45-year-old is scheduled to compete on Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 21 on May 25th, taking on Jeff Glover. ‘The California Kid’ last competed in the UFC against Petr Yan, and was finished in the third round.
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Urijah Faber details ‘game changer’ MMA project
Despite still competing in Combat Jiu-Jitsu, Faber is turning his attention to the future generations of MMA fighters, and wants to create a clearer pathway for the future athletes.
Talking to Demetrious Johnson on the Mighty YouTube channel, the Team Alpha Male owner stated how he wants to create a pathway similar to that of the NFL and Soccer.
“The next phase of s*** that I’m working on is going to be next level. I want a combat themed city center and I’m working on that.
“I want a place to get the sport where it needs to go like Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, you know how to get (to the top). You go to the little league then you go to the Junior High, then you go to High School then College then you go to the draft, there’s a real pathway. I want to help create that (in MMA).”
In 2013, Faber hosted the sports first ever Combine event in which athletes competed in different drills to showcase their skills. Ahead of his new project, the 45-year-old is looking for assistance from fellow MMA professionals.
“This new level of vision I have is going to be a game changer. I already talked to Daniel Cormier about it, I talked to Tim Kennedy, to (Anthony) Pettis and I’d like to get Holly Holm, (Jon) Bones Jones.
“I want to create a real pathway and plan for kids from 4 all the way through to semi-pro to get to the big leagues, so I’m working on that now and I’m going to get more details soon, but it’s going to be awesome.” Faber added.
Demetrious Johnson is on board with Faber’s plan and would like to offer his help on the project.
“I would love to be involved with that because I feel like that is what’s missing from our sport and obviously down the line with being unionised as athletes, being able to get more of a revenue share.” Johnson shared.
Urijah Faber comments on the new breed of MMA fighters
The sport has undoubtedly changed since ‘The California Kid’ was at the forefront of it, as fighters have become more reliant on social media to market themselves and their image instead of just their skills.
“When we started at the time there was no Conor McGregor that had the Bentley and was world famous, no one was that famous and to us who were obsessed with it on the underground forums and whatever who knew who was who.
“Now the dream of being rich and famous that’s a reality, for us it was just an inner desire to show we were the baddest on the planet.” Faber stated.
Of course, Urijah Faber has first hand experience of dealing with Conor McGregor, as the two coached against eachother on Season 22 of the series, but never ended up fighting one another.