Former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles have agreed to face off at UFC 139, which is believed to be targeted for November 19th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The UFC announced plans for the bout today. Faber is coming off of a decision loss to Dominick Cruz at UFC 132.
Despite lingering hand issues, Bowles brings momentum into the bout with Faber and has won two straight fights since losing his WEC title to Cruz last March. Faber had looked to capture Cruz’s new UFC title in their rematch earlier this month, but he was unable to defeat Cruz for a second time.
Faber (25-5-0) opened his career with 21 wins in 22 fights, but has struggled in the past three years since losing the WEC Featherweight Championship to Mike Brown at WEC 36. He is just 4-3 since then and was defeated by Brown in the pair’s 2009 rematch. When a second bid to recapture his WEC title failed, Faber dropped down to 135 pounds and won his first two fights, but came out on the wrong end of a close decision to Cruz in their UFC title rematch earlier this month. He now finds himself fighting to get another shot at Cruz.
Bowles (10-1-0) won his first eight pro fights and captured the WEC Bantamweight Championship with a devastating knockout of Miguel Torres at WEC 42. He has battled hand injuries since then, however, and it was a broken hand that forced him to retire after the second round of his title bout with Cruz at WEC 47. After a year off, Bowles made his UFC debut in March of this year and defeated Damacio “The Angel of Death” Page for the second time before taking a Unanimous Decision win over Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132.
Both fighters now look to earn another fight with Cruz – and for Faber, a rubber match – and a win could potentially set the winner up with a fight against the victor of the Cruz versus Demetrious Johnson title bout at UFC Live 6. Should Faber come up short against Bowles, his future will be unclear, as he has run into roadblocks at 145 pounds and a failed run at 135 may leave him with few big-fight options.
UFC 139 is believed to be targeted for November 19th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)