Urijah Faber meets Francisco Rivera at loaded UFC 181 in Las Vegas
UFC 181 just added another big name and former champion.
Urijah Faber, one of the most popular lighter weight fighters in the history of MMA, will meet Francisco Rivera at UFC 181 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, the UFC announced Wednesday night via its Latin American Twitter account.
Faber (31-7) is coming off a third-round submission victory over Alex Caceres at UFC 175 in July. He has won five of his last six fights and is ranked No. 3 among UFC bantamweight contenders. Faber, 35, was supposed to fight Masanori Kanehara last month in Japan, but had to pull out of the bout due to an injury. The Team Alpha Male product is a former WEC featherweight champion and has been the UFC top contender at both featherweight and bantamweight.
Rivera (10-3, 1 NC) is a fighter known for his violent, exciting striking style. He has not fought since falling by unanimous decision to Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 173 in May. Before that, he went unbeaten in six straight fights. Rivera, 33, is ranked No. 11 among bantamweight contenders. A victory over Faber would be by far the biggest of his career.
UFC 181 is headlined by a pair of title fights. Johny Hendricks defends his UFC welterweight title against Robbie Lawler in the main event and lightweight champion Anthony Pettis returns to meet Gilbert Melendez in the co-main. Former women's boxing champion Holly Holm will also make her debut on the card against Raquel Pennington.
