COUNT Urijah Faber among those disappointed to see EliteXC close its doors last week and join the list of mixed martial arts promotional companies that saw their dreams of riches crumble under a flood of financial losses.Faber wasn't directly affected by EliteXC folding because he's aligned with the WEC, which is owned by Zuffa, LLC, the same company that owns the highly successful UFC.
There was a time not so long ago when EliteXC appeared to be a viable threat to the UFC's dominance of mixed martial arts. EliteXC had Kimbo Slice and a contract for primetime shows on CBS. Now that EliteXC has folded, the UFC's stranglehold on the sport is that much tighter.
That's not necessarily a good thing as far as Faber is concerned. He would like to see more promotional companies in play, breeding the kind of competition that would ultimately benefit fighters.
"Fortunately, I'm with the best team out there," Faber said during a quick visit to Manhattan Thursday. "But competition is important. It's important for our economy; it's important for fighting and it's important for the fighters themselves."
Faber, 29, is one of the superstars of mixed martial arts, the reigning WEC featherweight champion. Nicknamed "The California Kid," he'll take a 21-1 record into the cage Wednesday night when he defends his title against Mike Brown (19-4) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Versus will televise live, hoping to attract the more than 1.5 million viewers who turned in to see Faber's victory last June over Jens "Li'l Evil" Pulver, who is on Wednesday's undercard.
If this were baseball or football or even boxing, Faber would be earning close to seven figures each time he steps into the cage. He's smart, personable and the ladies like his golden blond hair. But Zuffa dictates who fights who, and for how much. With the absence of any type of free agency among fighters, purses will remain limited as long as there is no real competition among promoters. Faber has earned about $40,000 for each of his past three fights.
"It's not that I would ever want to go fight there," Faber said of EliteXC, "but the more companies around, the better. It's like if you have one casino, a few people are going to show up. But if you have 20 casinos, you have a bunch of people there. It's kind of the same idea."
Faber isn't complaining though. He's making a living doing what he loves to do - fight - and he's the headliner for the WEC, which was founded in 2001 to highlight fighters in the smaller weight classes.
"The UFC has the best fighters and I would have stood out in the UFC as well," Faber said, "but they want to use me as a catalyst for the WEC. I feel like I'm really lucky to be where I am and I'm fortunate to be the guy being pushed. But I'm also winning on top of that."
A former collegiate wrestler at UC-Davis, Faber will carry a 13-fight winning steak into the cage against Brown, the No. 2 ranked 145-pounder in the world. The fight was originally set for September but had to be postponed because of a hurricane threat.
Brown is known as an aggressive fighter who likes to overpower his opponents. But Faber is deceptively strong and his wrestling skills are complemented by an improved stand-up attack, making him one of the more versatile fighters in the sport.
"He does a lot of things pretty well," Faber said. "But what he does pretty well, I'm going to do just a little bit better."
Taken from: http://www.nypost.com/seven/11012008/sports/boxing/fighters_like_faber_concerned_with_mma_f_136265.htm
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